s 

495 — 

. H42» Primary Agriculture 



. . AND . . . 



Practical Arithmetic 



. . FOR . . . 



Rural Schools 




BY 



J. A. HASELWOOD, Superintendent Jefferson County Schools 



AND 



K. L. HATCH, Principal, Waterloo, Wisconsin, Public Schools 




Class 
Book. 



S^^ 



'H^t 



()op)aight)J^_ 



COPYRIGHT deposit: 



. . . AND . . 



FOR USE, IN THE 



County Schools 




BY 



J. A. HASELWOOD, Superintendent Jefferson County Schools 

AND 

K. L. HATCH, Principal, Waterloo, Wisconsin, Public Schools 



WATERLOO DEMOCRAT PRINT. 



iwo Copies rtecttvwi 

AiiG 19 1905 

copy %? 






"Copyright, i905 by 

K. L. HATCH" 
Waterloo, Wisconsin. 






Love for farm life and for household duties should 
be nourished, but can only be through knowledge of 
its importance, its pleasures, its blessings and its profits 
taught in schools instituted for the purpose. 

Acknowledgment. 

The tables used in this book are taken from the 
published reports of the United States Department of 
Agriculture and adapted to the needs of this publica- 
tion. Only averages and approximate values are 
given. Conditions vary so widely that accuracy is 
impossible. The value of the tables lies in their use 
rather than in the numerical results obtained from their 
use. 

Grateful acknowledgement is also given to the 
friends who have given valuable assistance and sug- 
gestions. 

H. & H. 



Introduction. 

As the population of our country increases, it is 
fast becoming evident that two things must be clone: 
])oorer soil must be cultivated and what is already 
under cultivation must be made to produce more. In 
either case more thousfhtful methods in asfi'iculture 
are absolutely essential. The farmer of the to-morrow, 
who is to-day the farmer's boy, nnist know how to 
farm better than his father does. In order for him 
to do this, he must acquire a more or less complete 
knowledge of tiie sciences on which agriculture is 
based. 

The farmer of the future must be able to read farm 
papers understandingly, or better still, he should be 
trained for his life's work in some agricultural school, 
as doctors, lawyers and teachers are now trained. It 
is the purpose of this book to give to the farmer's 
child who studies it a start towards such necessary 
knov.dedge. The language used is plain and simple 
and may be readily understood by ^.ny bright boy or 
girl of twelve or fifteen years of age. All scientific 
terms are defined in a simple way whenever it has been 
necessary to introduce them. 

Each chapter is followed by a set of practical farm 
problems to be used as exercises for the arithmetic 
class. These problems have a definite relation to the 
subject matter which they follow, as well as a close 
relation to farm life. It is believed that their solu- 
tion will enable the farmer's children to solve ordinary 
practical problems arising on the farm, as well as the 
more complex ones of experimental agriculture. 

It is hoped that the careful study of this book will 



lead to a deeper Intcre^-U in farm life aiul a more carc- 
fnl and systeniatie study of the soils, erops, feeds, fer- 
tilizers and the like by the children in the rural 'schools 
and perhaps, incidentally, by the farmers themselves. 

The State Legislature of 1905 revised Section 447, 
Chapter 27, of the school laws to read as follows : 

"( )rthoqTapliv, reading;, writing .grammar, geog- 
raphy, arithmetic, ELEMEXTS^ OE AGRTCUI.- 
TURE, history of the United States, the constitution 
of the United States and the constitution of this State, 
and such oher branches as the board may determine, 
shall be taught in every district school." 

It is hoped that this little book, by combining the 
subjects of arithmetic and agriculture, will be of ma- 
terial assistance to the teachers in their com])liance 
with the law\ 



1. Why Plants Grow. 

If you were to be asked, "What makes a pig" 
gTow?" you woukl reply, "Milk, grass, corn, etc.," l3Ut 
if you were asked, "What makes a plant grow?" would 
you answer so readily, "The food which it consumes?" 
Hut this is precisely what you should reply. Plants, 
like animals, must have food and drink, and like ani- 
nials, they will perish without them. At some later 
time, we will tell you what these foods are, in such a 
\\'ay that you will readily recognize them at sight. 
For the present, however, we will only observe the 
way in which plants grow and find out, if possible, 
the source from which the little plant gets its first 
food. 

The little pig", or lamb, or calf lives and gTows 
upon the milk of its mother until it is large enough 
to hunt for its own food. It then begins to use the 
same food as the larger animals of its kind. Now 
from what source does the little plant get its first 
food. 

If you will carefully remove the skin from a bean 
that has been soaked over night and then separate it 
into two parts, you will discover two tiny leaves near 
one end. between the two halves of the bean. Extend- 
ing in the opposite direction is a tiny stem and root. 
This little plant is called the germ or embryo and it is 
this germ which later develops into a full grown 



2 — 



plant. The two halves of the bean serve as a store- 
house for food and are called cotyledons. If a ker- 
nel of corn is taken instead, and examined in the same 
way, the same kind of a little plant will be found. In- 
stead of two leaves pointing upward as in the bean, 
but one will be found in the corn. The peanut will be 
found to resemble the bean in this respect ; wdieat and 
rye resemble the corn. 

In the spring, as soon as the seeds begin to come 
up. go out into the garden and field and notice how- 
many leaves are first seen from the seed. In one list 
write the names of all plants showing but a single leaf 
or sprout, and entitle that list monocotyledons. In 
another list write the names of all plants showing a 
pair of first leaves and call these plants dicotvledons 
and you will have begun your first systematic studv 
of botany. I>ut, if you are interested, you will not 
wait for spring, but will want to begin now\ which 
you may do by planting all kinds of seeds grow^n on 
the farm, in sawdust in an old pan and setting it in a 
warm place. You can then examine these seeds from 
day to day and watch their growth. 

If you keep these seeds wet they wdll grow well 
for a few days and then they will wither and die. 
Now, why is this ? Because the little plantlet lives 
on the food contained in the seed until this food is 
all used up and it has attained sufficient size and 
strength to get its food from the soil. But it cannot 
get sufficient food from the sawdust and of course it 
starves to death just as a little pig would starve if it 
were not given sufficient food. 

When asked why plants store up so much food 
matter in seeds we usually answer, "To furnish food 
for animals and men." Nothing could be further 



— 3 — 

from the truth. Xature intended this food matter, 
not for man. but for the httle piantlets, found in the 
seeds, to use for their own growth until they were 
large enough, to get it for themselves directly from 
the soil. Try this experiment: From soaked beans 
or kernels of corn cut away about two-thirds of this 
food matter, being very careful not to injure the em- 
bryos, and watch the sprouting of what remains. These 
sprouts will wither and die much sooner than those 
from perfect seeds, because not enough nourishment 
is left to supply them with food until they are large 
enough to get it from the soil. This should teach us 
tliat we cannot be too careful in the selection of large, 
well developed seeds if we wish strc^ng, healthy plants 
?.nd, consequently, good crops. 

Every farmer's child must have noticed how pota- 
toes shrivel up when they sprout in the cellar. This 
is due to the fact that the young sprout uses up a 
part of the potato as food for its own growth. 

But there are other things necessary for the growtli 
of plants. Grain rarely grows in the bin or stack, 
and if it does you will say that it is because the grain 
is too wet. jMoisture then is another requisite for plant 
growth. P>ut even wet grain fails to grow in the win- 
ter time because heat is necessary. Neither will cro})s 
grow in ground covered with water because all grow- 
ing plants must have air and much water keeps the 
air cut of the soil. There is still another requisite to 
plant growth, and that is light. Xo plant grows well 
in the shade, and it always has a yellow and sickly 
look. 

Summing up : Good seeds and proper conditions 
i.f soil, moisture, air, heat and light are essential to 
])lant growth and the study of agriculture consists in 



determining just how to control these conditions. 
Uhat.^ you ask, "Can the farmer control the amount 
otheat, air and moisture in the soil?" He can 'uid 
It IS the purpose of this little book to teach the farm- 
er s children how it may be done. 

Table showing- legal weight per bushel of farm 
products m Wisconsin: 

Wheat 60 lb 

l^^^^oes v.v.v.v; ;;;;;;; 60 ibs." 

l^^' 60 lbs. 

^eans ^^ jl^^ 

Root crops (average) 60 lbs.' 

( )nions [-_ n 

Corn (shelled) .....'.■.'.'.'.':.■.';.';:;: 56 ibs.' 

f;>'^, 56 lbs. 

J'^i'^ey ^g ji^^ 

lUickwheat _^8 lbs. 

^^^t^ 32 lbs. 

Handy Values to Use. 

A bushel requires about 114 cubic feet of space. 
^ A bushel of corn in the ear requires about 2 cubic 
ieet of space. 

A barrel of water requires about 4 cubic feet of 
space. 

A ton of hay fills about 512 cubic feet of space or 
0x8x8. 

A cubic foot of water weighs 62}^, pounds. 

Note T. All the above should be memorized. 

Note II. Pupils should also memorize tables, of 
avoirdupois weight, dry measure, liquid measure, long 
measure, square measure, and cubic measure with all 
the necessary abbreviations. 



o 



Problems. 



1. How many pounds of wheat arc grown on an 
acre yielding 25 bushels ? 

2. How many pounds are grown on eight acres at 
tile same rate ? How many tons ? 

3. How many square rods in an acre ? How 
many pounds would that be per square rod ? 

4. What is the value of the above crop per acre at 
$0.80 per bushel ? 

5. At the same rate what is the value of all the 
wheat grown on a piece of land containing 240 square 
rods ? 

6. At $0.90 per bushel what is the value of the 
wheat grown on an acre if the yield is 20 bushels ? 

7. Wliich is the more valuable, the crop in prob- 
lem 4 or that in problem 6? 

8. If 20 bushels of $0.90 wheat can be grown on 
an acre, how many pounds is that? What is the price 
per pound ? How many pounds are grown on a 
square rod? What is the value of the wheat grown 
on a square rod ? 

9. At the same rate and price, what is the value 
of the wheat grown on a piece of ground 14 rods 
wide and 20 rods long? 

10. How man}- acres in a field 40 rods long and 
24 rods wide? 

11. If a man can plow 2 acres per day, how long 
will it take him to plow the above field? V\ hat will it 
cost for plowing at $2 per dav ? 

12. What will be the cost of plowing a 40 acre 
field at the same rate ? 

13. If a man and team can seed 4 acres per day 
how long will it take to seed a 40 acre field? What 



— 6 — 

Mill it cost at $2 per dav? 

[4. Tf it costs $.50 per acre to o^et this crop cut 
with a binder what will be the cost of cuttinp- the 
field ? 

15. It will cost about $.25 per acre to stack the 
grain. Find the cost of stacking. 

16. What is the threshing bill at 2 cents per 
bushel? Find the entire cost of the crop. 

17. If the yield has been 20 bushels per acre, 
worth 90 cents per bushel, how much has the farmer 
made over and above the entire cost of labor? 

18. How much has he made if the crop has 
yielded 25 bushels ]:)er acre, worth $.80 per bushel ? 

19. Have any items of the cost of producing tbis 
wheat been omitted? If so, what? Should we allow 
for them? Let us do it and find the result. 

20. With a crop of 50 bushels of shelled corn per 
acre w^orth $.40 per bushel work the same series of 
problems, omitting such as do not apply to corn rais- 
ing. 

To THE Teacher: The above list of problems is 
intended to suggest others. Ask the pupils to find 
out the current prices of corn, oats, barley, hay, etc. 
Ask them what is considered a good crop per acre of 
each of these. Ask them the cost of labor. Have 
them furnish all the necessary data. This they can 
get from home. Make up a list of problems similar 
to the above from data furnished by the pupils. Let 
one pupil furnish data for one set of problems, another 
pupil furnish data for another set, and so on. Pass 
the honors around. You should have both parents 
and pupils interested before you have progressed far 
with this work. Observe this policy throughout the 
course of instruction in this branch. 



2. The Plant and the Water. 

We have already seen that the seed furnishes the 
food for the httle plantlet until it is large enough to 
get it from the soil, in much the same way that the 
mother cow furnishes milk for her calf until the calf 
is large enough to hunt for its own food. If asked, 
"What are the foods which a cow eats ?" you would 
probably answer. "Hay. straw, fodder, oats. bran, etc." 
Not many of us could answer so readily if asked to 
give a list of plant foods. There are but a dozen of 
them and half of these are nearly as familiar to you. 
Here they are : Water, lime, iron-rust, soda, am- 
monia, and sand. The other six are magnesia, pot- 
ash and four acids, viz : Carbonic, phosphoric, hydro- 
chloric and sulphuric. Now let us examine these 
foods. 

Every one knows that plants cannot live without 
water, but few people stop to think of the enormous 
amount of water consumed daily by an acre of grow- 
ing vegetation. You may try this experiment : Put 
exactly the same amount of water in. each of two ves- 
sels — tumblers, glass fruit- jars or even old tin cans 
will answer. Pull up a thrifty bunch of clover and 
put its roots into one of these vessels of water. Stand 
both on a table or shelf side by side. In a few da^s 
you will notice that the water in the vessel containing 
the clover is disappearing much more rapidly than 
that in the other vessel. As soon as the clover begins 
to wilt take it out of the water and compare what 
remains in the two vessels by measuring. Of course, 
both have lost by evaporation — that is, both have 
''dried up," as we say, — but, if the vessels are of the 
same size, one should have "dried up" as fast as the 



other. Why, then, should not the renianKlcrs be equal ^^ 
because the clover plant has been using- up water. The 
difference between what remains in the two cans rep- 
resents the amount used by the clover plant. 

Plants make use of water in two wavs. In the 
first place they use it as food just the same as animals 
do. In the second place a plant cannot eat solid food 
It has neither mouth nor teeth and it must suck in its 
food throug-h its roots in liquid form. The solid 
foods, mentioned above, dissolve in water— just as 
sugar dissolves in coff'ee— and in this dissolved condi- 
tion they are easily taken in by the roots of the plant. 
Substances like salt, which dissolve in water, are said 
to be soluble and, when found in the plant in this dis- 
solved form, the liquid is called sap. The solid food 
and a portion of the water is taken from the sap to 
be used in plant growth and the remaining water is 
l^assed off to the air through little holes in the leaves. 
These, then, are the reasons why plants need so much 
water. Grain uses up thousands of tons of water per 
acre during the growing season. 

But you ask: "Can the farmer regulate the 
amount of moisture in the soil ?" "Does not that de- 
pend wholly upon rainfall?" No, it does not depend 
upon rainfall. If the ground is too wet, the farmer 
can drain it by ditching or tiling and by careful culti- 
vation he can keep the moisture in the soil in times of 
drought. Just how this is done is left for later dis- 
cussion. 

Table showing proportions of water in farm crops : 
One bushel of root crops contains about 55 pounds 
of water. 

One bushel of potatoes contains about 45 pounds 
of water. 



One bushel of corn (dry shelled) contains about 5 
pounds of water. 

One bushel of wheat contains about 6 pounds of 
water. 

One bushel of oats contains about 3 pounds of 
water. 

One ton of dry hay contains about 300 pounds of 
water. 

One ton of o^reen feed contains from 1.500 to t,8oo 
pounds of water. 

Note: This represents only the water left in the 
plants and seeds as a part of them. By far the s^reater 
amount used by the plant passes off to the air through 
the pores in the leaves. 

To THE Teacher: By the aid of data furnished 
by the pupils, the above table will enable you to devise 
other problems similar to the ones given at the end of 
the chapter. 

Problems. 

1. If rain falls an inch deep on the level, how 
many cubic inches is that per square foot ? Per square 
yard? Per square rod? How many cubic feet per 
square rod? Per square acre? 

2. About how many barrels of water fall on an 
acre with i inch rainfall ? 

3. How many tons will this water weigh? 

4. The total rainfall during the year in Wiscon- 
sin is about four feet. What does the water that falls 
on a square yard of ground, during the year, weigh? 
On a square rod? How many tons to the acre? 

5. Suppose the plants use one-eighth of this. 
A\^hat is the weight of the water used by a square yard 



— 10 — 

of vegetation? A square rod? An acre? 

6. From lo to 90 per cent, of all crops is water. 
Suppose potatoes contain three-fourths of their weight 
of water. How many pounds of water in a bushel of 
potatoes ? 

7. If 150 bushels of potatoes is a good yield, how 
many pounds of water in the potatoes grown on an 



3. Plant Foods. 

Every child knows what lime is. He knows, too, 
that it will dissolve readily in water. It thus becomes 
available for plant food. Large quantities of lime are 
found in the soil. Of course, it comes from the lime 
rock. 

Soda, or saleratus, as it is sometimes called, is also 
easily dissolved in water. Soda is made from com- 
mon salt and the plants get it from the soil. 

Iron-rust gives the red or yellow color to rocks 
and soils. It dissolves easily in water, especially after 
a little acid is added. 

But what is an acid ? The commonest kind of one, 
without which no farmer's wife could well get along, 
is vinegar. Acids are usually sour in taste and their 
presence in the soil assists water in dissolving rock. 
A copper penny can be made bright or an old brass 
ring to look like gold by rubbing it with a little vine- 
gar. This is because the acid dissolves off the tarnish 
and leaves the clean surface exposed. Some of the 
plant foods dissolve much more readily in water to 
which a little acid has been added. Soda is a good 
example. Put a teaspoonful of it in a cup about one- 
fourth full of water without stirring. Add a little 



— 11 — 

vinegar and notice what takes place. The soda dis- 
appears hecause the acid acts on it. ( las is given off 
very rapidly, cansing it to bubble and "foam." This 
gas is carbonic acid, one of the four acids named in 
the last chapter. These acids help the water to dis- 
solve the plant foods in the soil and are themselves 
taken in as plant foods. 

Sand needs no discussion. It is the food that 
gives stiffness to the stalks of barley, oats and other 
grains. Small grains, grown on rich bottom land, 
usually "lodge" partly because they are unable to get 
sufi'xient sand from the soil. 

( )ne who has smelled ammonia knows what it is. 
It is used for cleaning clothing and windows. If you 
go into the barn on a warm morning you will get a 
strong odor of ammonia from the horse manure, if the 
barn has been closed during the night. Ammonia is 
always given off to the air when animal matter decays. 
It contains the element, nitrogen, so essential to plant 
growth. 

Carbonic acid gas is a plant food and it is also 
found in the air. You will remember it as the gas 
that came oif when you put vinegar on soda. This 
gas is always given off to the air when vegetable mat- 
ter burns or decays. You are throwing it off from 
your lungs with every breath that you breathe. So, 
too, are all animals. Here is a simple test for it that 
any child can easily try : Put a piece of fresh lime in 
some water, shake well and let it stand until it settles 
and the water is perfectly clear. Poiu" off this clear 
liquid into another bottle. This clear liquid is lime 
water. Som.e of the lime has been dissolved. Taste 
it to satisfy yourself. Xow, pour some of the lime 
water into a tumbler and blow bubbles through it 



12 — 



with a straw. It gets milky because of the carbonic 
acid m your kings. Now mix up some more "soda 
water" and add vinegar. Carefully tip the tumbler so 
tliat the gas can run into the lime' water. It is heav- 
ier than air and will run over the edge of the tumbler 
like water. Shake the lime water. It is milkv again. 
This shows that the gas given off bv the soda water 
when vinegar is added is the same as the gas given 
off by your lungs. Try one more experiment : ' " 

Place a little lime water in a saucer and set this on 
the floor in 3^our sleeping room over night. In the 
morning it, too, will be found to be milky. This 
shows the presence of carbonic acid in the air^ 

Most of us are acquainted with magnesia. It is 
tlie wliite powder used by barbers and ladies to whiten 
the skin and prevent soreness froiu the wind. 

Potash is found in wood ashes and gives to lye, 
made therefrom, its soapy feel. 

The water, soil and air are the sources of plant 
food. The air contains two — ammonia and carbonic 
acid— the soil the other nine. All of these foods ex- 
ce]3t carbonic acid dissolve in water and enter the 
]_:)lant by its roots. Carbonic acid is taken in directly 
from the air by the plant through the little holes in the 
leaves. 

Now, if these foods are not found in sufficient 
abundance in the soil the plant grows slowly and 
finally dies. Again, the soil may contain plenty of 
plant food, but it may not be in a "form readily soluble 
by the water and the plant suffers from a lack of food, 
just as one may starve within ten feet of plenty of 
food which is securely locked up so that he can not get 
at it. So that one problem which the farmer is called 



13 



upon to solve is how to make the soil of his farm more 
easily soluble. 

Plants may be killed by too nnich food. Who has 
not seen spots of grass killed out where the cattle have 
been salted or have dropped manure ? This is be- 
cause the plants have taken in too niuch solid food. 
Plants can live on so small an amount as one part of 
solid food dissolved in a million parts of water and 
more than one part in a thousand kills them. One way 
to kill out noxious weeds is tc> cover them with salt, 
lime, ashes, etc., so that they will take in more than 
one part of this food in every thousand parts of water 
that they use. 

From what we have learned it is clear that if the 
farmer raises grain on his farm to sell and never re- 
turns manure to the soil he will rob it of its plant food 
and it will soon begin to show evidence of being "worn 
out." Plant foods are being continually used up by 
the growing plants and removed with them and none 
are returned to take their place. The heavier the 
crop the faster will be the loss. Tobacco and root 
crops being so much heavier, wear -out the soil faster 
than small grains. 

Cut worn out soil does not mean soil in which all 
the different kinds of plant foods are used up. In 
fact, soil usually contains all plant foods in inexhausti- 
ble quantities with but three exceptions, namely : Pot- 
ash, phosphoric acid and the nitrogen found in am- 
monia. To restore the fertility of the soil means only 
to restore these three substances. The general rules 
for fertilizing soils will be taken up later. 

Table showing proportion of fertilizing substances 
in farm crops : 



— 14 -- 

OUXCES PER BUSHEL. 
OTHER TABLES LHvE THIS ARE XOT marked 

Phosphoric 

^^^P- Nitrogen. Acid. Potasli. 

^^'^">eat . . : 20 oz. 8 oz. 5 oz. 

■^y^ • 17 oz. 9 oz. 5 oz. 

Corn, shelled 14 oz. 5 oz. 3 oz. 

E'arley 12 oz. ?> oz. 4 oz. 

Buckwheat 12 oz. 4 oz. 2 oz. 

^^^ts TO oz. 3 oz. 2 oz. 

Potatoes 3 oz. i oz. 4 oz. 

Root crops, averao-e 3 oz. i oz. 2 oz. 

POUNDS PER TON. 

Phosphoric 

Crop. Nitroo-en. Acid. Potash. 

Timothy or red top hay.. 20 lbs. 9 lbs. 30 lbs. 

Clover hay 40 lbs. 10 lbs. 40 lbs. 

Tobacco (leaves) 60 lbs. 13 lbs. 80 lbs. 

Straw (average) 10 lbs. 4 lbs. 20 lbs. 

Sugar beets 3 lbs. 1-5 lb. 4 lbs. 

Problems. 

1. How many pounds of each of the three im- 
portant fertilizers in a crop of wheat that goes 20 bu. 
per acre? 25 bu. per acre? 

2. A corn crop of 50 bu. per acre ? 60 bu. ? 75 bu. ? 

3. An oat crop of 40 bu. per acre ? 50 bu. ? 60 bu. ? 

4. A barley crop of 40 bu. ? 45 bu. ? 50 bu. ? 

5. A potato crop of no bu. per acre? 120 bu. ? 
150 bu.? 

6. A clover hay crop of y/2 tons per acre ? 4 tons ? 
^ tons? 



~ 15 ~ 

7. A meadow hay crop of 2 tons per acre? 2^ 
tons ? 3 tons ? 

8. A tobacco crop of 1,500 lbs. per acre? 1,800 
lbs. ? 

9. Compare the results and notice which crop is 
hardest on the soil. 

To THE Teacher: Pupils may furnish data for 
similar problems. Have them tell how many acres of 
corn, wheat, hay, etc., were raised on the farm at 
home, the number of bushels or tons per acre, and find 
the amount of the three essential fertilizers taken off 
with the crop. 

4. Soils. 

A good deal has been said about soils and it may 
interest you to discuss how soils are made. The soil 
in Wisconsin and most of the northern states contains 
much hard gravel mixed with fine soil. This "drift," 
as it is called, varies in depth from a few inches to 
liundreds of feet. Underneath this drift is solid rock. 
Any "well-driller" will tell you this. He can also tell 
you how far he has had to go down into the earth be- 
fore striking rock, in the cUfferent wells that he has 
drilled. He will also tell you that this rock does not 
resemble the stone or gravel above it. Where, then, 
did this drift come from? 

Many years ago, before man first made his appear- 
ance on the earth, a great mass of ice and snow, called 
a glacier, swept down from the polar regions, scrap- 
ing up the loose earth, rocks, and stones- as it moved 
slowly along, crushing and grinding them together, 
knocking off hill tops and filling up valleys and leaving, 
as it passed, the gravelly soil in which the farmer now" 



— 16 — 

sows his seed. The reason why tlie stones that mav 
now be picked up are so hard is that only the hard 
ones could stand the grinding. The softer ones were 
easily ground up and formed soil. In the western 
part of the state of Wisconsin is a tract, known as the 
"driftless area," over which the glacier did not pass. 
Here the soil may be seen in the actual process of 
formation. The rock on top gradually "rots" and 
breaks up. The water washes the lighter portions 
down and spreads them out at lower levels. The rain 
and snow work their w^ay into the cracks of the rocks, 
and, freezing there, break them up into smaller pieces. 
Even the wind breaks off small pieces and carries 
them away. Great drifts of sand, like snow, may some- 
times be seen piled up by the action of the wind. Plants 
and trees drop their leaves, die and decay, and thus 
help build up the soil. Roots of trees sometimes work 
their way into crevices of the rock and, growing there, 
split oft' great pieces. Roots also secrete a kind of 
acid that helps to dissolve the rock. The gases in the 
air help in breaking up the rock, thus forming soil. 
Animals, too, like the gopher and woodchuck, burrow 
into the earth and help to tear up and break down the 
rock. When they die their bodies decay and become 
a part of the soil. Earthworms, or "angle worms," as 
they are called, feed on the soil and break up the par- 
ticles into still finer ones. 

These are the agencies, then, that assist each other 
in the formation of soil : Glaciers, wdnd, water, frost, 
plants, animals, and gases in the air. 

What kinds of soils are formed by all these agen- 
cies? It must be remembered that all soil originally 
came from the rock and the kind of soil must there- 
fore depend on the kind of rock from which it was 



- 17 — 

made. That is, we have sandy soil in sandstone re- 
,C'ions and in Hmestone regions clay is usually found. 
The black soil, found on low, flat land, is made up prin- 
cipally from decayed leaves and plants. This soil is 
called humus. Flumus mixed with clay and sand is 
called loani. If there is more sand than clay in the 
mixture it is called sandy loam and if there is more 
clay than sand in the mixture it is called clayey loam. 
Of course, these soils are found mixed in every pos- 
sible proportion. This fact leads to a great variety of 
soils and it is the farmer's business to learn the nature 
of the soil on his farm and how best to handle it. 
Loamy soils are the best farm lands because of the 
ease with which they may be cultivated. They are 
warm soils and hold moisture well. A sticky clay soil 
may be improved in texture and warmed up at the 
same time by a plentiful addition of barn yard manure, 
containing much straw. This adds humus and makes 
the clay into a clayey loam. The same treatment is 
also good for sand, as it increases the capacity of sand 
for holding moisture and makes a sandy loam. If it 
were possible and less expensive', many barren, sandy 
places might be made fertile by adding to them plenti- 
ful quantities of swamp muck. This treatment would 
convert them into a loam of good quality. Plowing 
under full grown crops of rye or clover has much the 
same effect. Either method adds humus to the soil 
and tends to make it more loamy. Rye grows well on 
sandy soil and clover is a good crop to raise on clay 
for plowing under. 

A good loam contains all the foods needed by 
growing plants. As has been said before, but three 
of these foods ever become exhausted (with the pos- 
sible exception of lime). You will remember that 



— l.S — 

these three are nitrog-en, potash and phosphorie ac'id. It 
is the purpose of the next chapter to tell vou how you 
may judge from the character of the soil and the grow- 
ing crop which one of these plant foods is most needed. 
Table showing fertilizin;:^ substances in averaee 
soils : 

POUNDS PER TON. 

Phosphoric 

( )ne ton of Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. 

f-oai" 7 lbs. 3 lbs. 8 lbs. 

^^^y 3 lbs. 3 lbs. 15 lbs. 

^'"^ft 3 lbs. I/, lb. 6 lbs. 

Sand I lb. 2 lbs. 5 lbs. 

(Adapted from Stockbridge.) 

Problems. 

By a comparison of the two tables showing ferti- 
Hzing- substances in soils and crops answer the follow- 
ing questions : 

1. What crops are hardest to grow on sandy 
soils? Clay? Loam? Drift? Why? 

2. What crops can best be grown on sand ? Clav ^ 
Loam? Drift? Why? 

3. Suppose soil is cultivated to the depth of 4 in. 
How many cu. ft. of cultivated soil per sq. ft. of area? 
Per sq. ycl. ? Per sq. rod ? Per acre ? 

4. If a cu. ft. of soil weight 75 lbs., how manv 
lbs. of cultivated soil per sq. yard ? Per sq. rod ? Per 
acre ? 

5. Find number of pounds of nitrogen, potash and 
])hosphoric acid in the cultivated soil per acre for each 
of the four kinds of soil. 

6. If- the soil is cultivated to the depth of eight 



19 



inches how many pounds of each of the three fertiliz- 
ing substances per acre in each of the soils given in the 
table ? 

7. How many pounds of nitrogen, potash and 
])hosphoric acid are used, annually, per acre, by a crop 
of 20 bu. of wheat? In how many years will one-half 
of all the nitrogen in clay be used up by this crop feed- 
ing to the depth of four inches ? 

8. How will this affect future crops ? 

9. Work the same problem for the other soils. 

10. Use a 50 bushel corn crop per acre and work 
problem 7. Also a 60 bu. oat crop. A 120 bu. potato 
crop. 

To THE Teacher : Have pupils furnish data for 
similar problems. 

5. The Soil and the Crop. 

As W'as stated in the last chapter, the crop will 
usually tell the farmer by its appearance the kind of 
food it most needs. Good, fertile, well-drained soil, 
properly cultivated, usually produces healthy, dark 
green plants with strong, good-sized stalks and nu- 
merous well-filled seeds. 

Xow the growth of the stalk and the foliage of the 
plant is largely due to the nitrogen in the soil, pro- 
vided, of course, that the drainage is good and other 
conditions of heat, light, air and moisture are favora- 
ble. If the plant has a yellow and sickly look and re- 
fuses to grow with proper cultivation, it is likely 
starving for want of nitrogen. What should the 
farmer do? 

Barn yard manure is an almost perfect fertilizer ; 
that is. it has the right amounts of nitrogen. phosph(^ric 



— 20 — 

acid and potash in it in a form readily obtainable bv 
the plant. A plentiful application of barn yard ma- 
nure will improve the next crop and is the best remedy 
for yellow and sickly plants. 

In the next place, clover, alfalfa, peas and lik'e 
plants which bear their seeds in pods will grow readils' 
on this kind of soil, because they have the power of 
using the nitrogen of the air in a way that will be 
explained later. These plants store up the nitrogen 
that they take from the air, and if they be plowed 
under when full grown they will add this store of 
nitrogen to the soil, besides forming an excellent soil 
mulch. Clover stands next to manure for the restora- 
tion of nitrogen and is sometimes easier of application. 

Another method consists of applying conimercial 
fertilizers, containing nitrogen, directly to the soil. 
These may be bought in the market, but as yet they are 
little used by the farmers, because manure and clover 
are ordinarily cheaper, more convenient, and easier to 
apply. Guano, saltpeter, fish, and animal refuse from 
slaughter houses are the principal commercial fertiliz- 
ers which contain large amounts of this much-needed 
plant food. 

A shortage of phosphoric acid in the soil is usually 
shown by small, undeveloped and shrunken seeds. The 
grain does not "fill well," as the farmer says. The 
ground has been carefully prepared, tilled and drained. 
What is he to do? Nothing simpler. Apply phos- 
phoric acid fertilizers to the soil. Here again, barn- 
yard manure, because it is a perfect fertilizer, is the 
l3est and easiest one to be had. Ground bones, burned 
bones, marls and rock phosphates are the fertilizers of 
commerce, but as yet they are not extensively used. 

Potash is especially essential to the production of 



— 21 — 

fruits, potatoes and root crops. In n:ost cases, when 
other conditions are perfect, under-sized, shriveled 
and imperfect fruits and roots are due to a lack of 
potash. Here again barnyard manure is the universal 
remedy. Wood ashes are espcciall}- valuable because 
of the potash which they contain. Thev should never 
be wasted, but saved and put on the land. Potash 
salts may be bought on the market, but, like other 
commercial fertilizers, they have not yet come into gen- 
eral use. 

To sum up what has already been said: Barn- 
yard manure is called a perfect fertilizer because it 
contains all the elements that become exhausted from 
the soil, namely: nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 
It is the easiest fertilizer to get and for that reason is 
always the best to use. Clover, plowed under, will re- 
store nitrogen to the soil because it has power to take 
nitrogen from the air, a povrer which few other plants 
have. Wood ashes are rich in potash and should 
never be wasted, but sown on the soil. Commercial 
fertilizers, containing what the soil especially needs, 
may be bought and applied. 

There is still another use to which commercial fer- 
tilizers, like lime and land plaster, are put. They are 
used not so much because they are themselves plant 
foods, but because of the chemical effect which they 
have upon the soil. Your attention has already been 
called to the fact that plants sometimes starve with an 
abundance of food near at hand, but in a form in 
which they can not use it for food — locked up, as it 
uere, like pies in a pantry. If a boy was starving be- 
cause his food was "locked up" he would want the 
key. X"o boy will die of starvation with a well-filled 
cupboard, unlocked, in the house. Neither will plants. 



— ^2 — 

Xow lime and land plaster are the keys that unlock 
other plant foods in the soil and chang^e them into a 
form in which the plants can get at them. It is, prin- 
cipally, for this reason that they are used. 

The subject of fertilizers and fertilization is a big 
one and a very important one to the farmer. It needs 
much thought and careful study and is only touched 
upon here in the briefest possible manner. The prob- 
lems which follow will help to emphasize the points 
made in this chapter. 

Table showing average amounts of nitrogen, phos- 
j^horic acid and potash in fertilizers : 

POUNDS PER TON. 

Phosphoric 

Substance. Nitrogen. x\cid. Potash. 

Clover hay 40 11 36 

Straw 10 2 10 

IJarnyard manure 10 5 9 

Wood ashes 60 160 

P>urned bones 500 

Ground bones 400 

Problems, 

1. Suppose a load of barnyard manure weighs a 
ton. How many pounds of nitrogen in it? Of phos- 
phoric acid? Of potash? 

2. How much of each of the above in 15 loads? 
20 loads ? 50 loads ? 

3. How many loads of manure did you haul onto 
the land last year? How much of each fertilizing 
substance did you apply? 

4. If you put 15 loads on an acre how much of 
each fertilizing substance did you apply per acre? 



— 23 — 

5- Suppose yon harvested 50 bii. of corn per acre. 
How mnch of each fertiHzing substance did you take 
off with the crop? 

6. Was your soil richer or poorer after the corn 
was harvested? Did you take off more than vou put 
on ? How much of each kind ? 

7. How much of each of these fertiHzing sub- 
stances will be taken off with a 25 bu. crop per acre of 
wheat? A 40 bu. crop of barley? 

9. How many loads of manure per acre will be 
necessary to restore the fertility lost when a 25 bu. 
per acre wheat crop is harvested ? 

To THE Teacher: Ask pupils to furnish data for 
similar problems. 

6. Wearing Out the Soil. 

From what we learned in the last chapter it is 
easily seen that the farmer who raises grain and to- 
bacco to sell and who returns nothing to the land in 
the form of fertilizers is literally "selling his farm." 
He sells soil in small quantities, it is true, but he sells 
it nevertheless. There can be put one result from this 
kind of farming. No matter how rich the soil, sooner 
or later it will wear out. The poorer the land the 
sooner will its fertility become exhausted. 

In the early history of Wisconsin niuch wheat was 
grown, the land in many cases yielding as high as 
forty bushels per acre. But the yield rapidly decreased 
until no more than ten or fifteen bushels could be 
grown. The farmers gave up selling wheat and the 
wheat belt moved on to the west. Now why was this ? 
Simply because wheat, a heavy feeder as shown by 
the tables, wore out the soil. No fertilizers were re- 
turned to take the place of the soil matter taken off 



— 24 — 



with the wheat, and in a few years the wheat croi) 
starved out. What is true of wheat is equally true of 
every other crop, in the proportion in which it uses up 
nitrO;2-en, phosphoric acid and potash in its o-rowth. 

Wisconsin farmers have learned that grain farmiiio- 
does not pay and they have g-one into\lairving and 
prospered. Why is dairy farming so much hetter? 
Because the grain and hay raised on the farm are fed 
there and returned again to the soil in the form of 
barnyard manure. W^ry little soil matter is sold from 
the farm. The proportion of nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
and potash in butter, cheese, beef and pork is very 
small for the amount of feed consumed, as the table 
following this chapter will show. It will take a long 
time to lessen the amount of these substances in the 
soil by dairv farmingf. 

Again, the dairy farmer raises much clover, and 
clover, as you have already seen, reallv enriches the 
soil by adding to it nitrogen from the air. 

The wise farmer wastes nothing. If he raises 
peas and corn for the canning factory he hauls the 
vines and stalks back to his farm. If he grows beets 
for the sugar factory he has the pulp returned to his 
land. He sells neither hay nor grain, but feeds it on 
his farm. He saves all manure and carefully returns 
it again to the soil. 

Table showing fertilizing substances in dair}- prod- 
ucts : 

OUNCES PER loo POUNDS. 

Phosphoric 
Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. 

Cheese 63 oz. 10 oz. 2 oz. 

^lilk . . 8 oz. 3 oz. 3 oz. 

T 'utter 2 oz. 3-5 oz. 1/ oz. 



— 25 — 

Table showing fertilizing substances in farm ani- 
mals : 

OUNXES PER loo POUNDS. 

Phosphoric 
Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. 

Cattle 40 oz. 29 oz. 3 oz. 

Sheep 35 OZ- 19 oz. 3 oz. 

Hogs 32 oz. 130 oz. 2y? oz. 

PROBLEMS. 

1. How much nitrogen is sold from the farm with 
every ton of butter? How much phosphoric acid? How 
much potash? 

2. How many pounds of these three substances 
are sold with every ton of cheese ? 

3. How many pounds of each are sold with too 
lbs. of butter? With 100 lbs. of cheese? Which is 
harder on the soil ? 

4. How much of each of these fertilizing sub- 
stances in a 300 lb. pig ? 

5. How much of each of these fertilizing sub- 
stances in a 1 ,200 lb. steer ? 

6. A farmer sells 20 hogs, each -weighing 225 lbs. 
How many pounds of each kind of fertilizing sub- 
stance does he sell ? 

7. Suppose he sells 6 head of cattle weighing 1,050 
lbs. each. How much of each of these three sub- 
stances does he sell ? 

8. How much butter did you (each family repre- 
sented in the class) sell last year? How much of 
each of these three fertilizing substances did you sell 
with the butter? Did it wear out the farm much? 
About how many loads of manure will it take to re- 
place them? (Suppose a load of manure weighs a 
ton). 



— 26 — 

9- How many hogs did you sell last year? About 
how much did they weigh? How much phosphoric 
acid went with them ? How much nitrogen ? How 
nuich potash ? 

lo. Did you sell any wheat? Any other grain? 
H so, how much? How much of your farm went 
with it ? 

To THE Teacher: Require pupils to furnish data 
for other similar problems. 

7. Legumes. 

From a study of the table on fertilizing substances 
in different soils and a comparison of this table with 
the one on fertilizing substances in farm crops, it will 
be seen that nitrogen is the element which, from ordi- 
nary soils and under ordinary conditions of farmins:, is 
likely to be the soonest exhausted. Ordinarily, then, 
the farmer's attention should be turned to methods of 
restoring nitrogen. Ha sufficient quantity of manure 
were produced on the farm, of course the best method 
of fertilizing would be to apply barnyard manure to 
the soil, as it not only contains nitrogen, but also phos- 
phoric acid and potash, the other needed elements. But 
it is not always possible to do this. There is a class 
of plants, howeyer, called legumes, that have the power 
to add nitrogen to the soil. Peas, beans, cloyer and 
alfalfa belong to this class. It is the purpose of this 
chapter to explain the manner in which these plants 
add nitrosren to the soil. 

The air that we breathe is composed largely of two 
gases — oxygen and nitrogen. Both are colorless, odor- 
less, and inyisible. About one-fifth of the air is oxy- 
gen and the other four-fifths nitrogen. It is the oxy- 



'Zi 



g-en that causes iron to rust, coal to burn, or wood to 
decay. Oxygen is a very active element, combining 
readily with other substances. If the air were pure 
oxygen, any tire once started could never be put out, 
and even our bodies would take fire and burn up. 

( )n the other hand, nitrogen is a very inactive ele- 
ment and does not combine readily with other sub- 
stances. Its presence in the air dilutes the oxygen and 
makes it less active. It is well known that tea can be 
made so strong that no person can drink it. It may 
be readily diluted and its strength greatly lessened, 
however, by the addition of water. It is much the 
same way with oxygen. It is so active that it must 
])e mixed with nitrogen before it can be used by man 
and animals. It is so mixed in the air, there being, as 
has been said, about four times as much nitrogen as 
oxygen in it. Farm crops can not use this "free" 
nitrogen in the air. 

There are, however, little germs which live in the 
soil that can and do feed upon this free nitrogen in the 
air. These germs are a kind of parasite and are 
usually found associated with the legumes, i. e., with 
peas, beans, clover and the like. They fasten them- 
selves to the roots of these plants and build their homes 
there. Their little "nests" look like tiny potatoes and 
are called tubercles. They are about as large as pin- 
heads and are to be found adhering to the roots of 
clover, beans, and peas. Pull up a bunch of thrifty 
clover and examine its roots for these tubercles. A 
peculiar thing about these germs is that they do not 
seem to thrive without the legumes and the legumes 
do not thrive without the germs. Sometimes clover 
refuses to grow on certain soils. The reason is that 
there are no sperms in the soil. Such soils should be 



— 28 — 

"inoculated," i. e., the germs should be planted there 
and then the clover will grow. These germs are sent 
out in little cakes, like yeast cakes, by the United 
States Department of Agriculture and may be dis- 
solved in water and sprayed on the land. 

In order to restore nitrogen to worn out soil it is 
only necessary to seed with clover. The germs found 
in the tubercles on the roots of the clover wdll feed 
upon the nitrogen of the air, wdiich the plants them- 
selves cannot use, and store it up. If this crop is 
plowed under, nitrogen is added to the soil. It is 
consequently enriched and at the same time improved 
in texture, especially if it be a clayey soil. This is the 
secret of clover growing on the farm. It is the com- 
mon practice among farmers to cut the first crop of 
clover for hay and plow under the second crop. Thus 
the clover is made to serve a double purpose — first fur- 
nishing food for stock, and next a supply of nitrogen 
for the soil. 

Problems. 

1. How does clover compare with other hay in the 
amount of nitrogen it contains ? Phosphoric acid ? 
Potash? 

2. If two tons of hay per acre is an average 
yield, how much of each fertilizer is removed from 8 
acres of ground yearly? 

3. Which kind of hay makes the richest manure? 
Why? 

4. How much more of nitrogen in a crop of 25 
acres of clover hay yielding 3 tons per acre than in 
the same number of acres of mixed hay yielding 2 
tons per acre? Where does this extra nitrogen come 
from ? 



— 29 — 

5- How many tons of each kind of hay did you 
raise on the farm last year? 

6. How many tons of hay did you sell last vear? 
How many pounds of each of the three important 
kinds of "soil fertility" did you sell? How many 
pounds altogether ? 

To THE Teacher : Ask pupils to furnish data for 
smiilar problems. 

8. Tilling the Soil. 

Tillage stands next in importance to fertilization 
c'lnd with many soils it is even more important. Tillage 
is here meant to include both the preparation of the 
soil before planting, and, with crops that admit, the 
cultivation of the crop after it is planted. 

As V\^e have learned, the plant is fed by its roots 
that penetrate the soil in every direction. These feed- 
ing| roots are vefy small and work their way between 
the soil particles, gathering up the dissolved food and 
passing it into the plant. If the soil is coarse and 
lumpy these little rootlets cannot get -at the food locked 
up in the lumps, but can only feed upon their surface. 
Proper preparation of the soil will break up these 
lumps, pulverize them, and allow the roots of the 
plants to get at the food matter which they contain. 
Again, water cannot dissolve plant foods in lumpy 
"Tound so readilv. Stirring" the soil will hasten the 
solution of this food matter. These facts may be 
easily shown by experiment. 

Throw a handful of fine salt into a tumbler of 
water. Into another tumbler put a lump of salt or a 
piece of rock salt about the same size. Which dis- 
solves the sooner? Stir both and note the effect of 



— 80 — 

Stirring-. Does stirring hasten solution? Xow put 
the same amount of fine salt in each of two glasses. 
Stir one, but do not disturb the other. 

You have noticed in the above experiments that 
lumpy salt dissolves much more slowly than fine salt 
and that stirring always hastens solution. It is just 
so with plant foods contained in the soil. Plant foods 
contained in lumpy soils dissolve very slowlv and cul- 
tivation has the same efi^ect upon them that stirring 
has upon the salt in the water. It causes them to dis- 
solve. The plant cannot use these foods until they are 
dissolved, so that excellent preparation of the soil be- 
fore planting and constant cultivation of it after plant- 
ing- both tend to increase the supply of plant food and 
hasten the growth of plants. 

The depth to which soils should be cultivated de- 
pends in a large degree upon the depth to which the 
plants' roots will penetrate. The grains are shallow 
rooted and do not need so deep cultivation as do corn 
and root crops. The farmer is not likely to plow too 
deep for any crop, however. Deep plowing brings to 
the surface plant foods that have never been reached 
by shallow cultivation, and it pulverizes the soil so 
that the roots can penetrate it to a greater depth and 
have more soil to feed upon. 

For root crops the ground must be plowed deep 
and very carefully pulverized. There are two reasons 
for this. In the first place, poorly pulverized soil 
spoils the shape of roots like beets and parsnips. They 
cannot grow equally in all directions and become 
crooked, split, and misshapen because of the hindrance 
of lumps to their growth. In the second place, if they 
cannot penetrate the soil easily, they will be raised out 
of the ground as they increase in length, when they 



— 3] 



strike the hard soil below. All that has been said 
about cultivation of plants applies with special force to 
root crops. 

Another important reason for cultivation is to be 
found in the fact that cultivated soils do not dry out 
so rapidly during a drought. This seems strange at 
first, but it is nevertheless true, and the reason is easilv 
seen. There are two kinds of water in the ground — 
capillary water and "free'' underground water. Un- 
derground water flows along underneath the surface 
and sometimes comes out again in the form of springs. 
It is this water that supplies our wells. But it is the 
capillary water and not the ''free" water that is used 
by the plants. A simple illustration will make clear 
what capillary water is. You have, no doubt, ob- 
served how oil rises in the lamp wick. The oil in the 
wick is moving upward and may be called "capillary'' 
oil, while that in the lamp is "free." The oil in 
the wick corresponds to the capillary water in the soil, 
while that in the lamp corresponds to the imderground 
water. Another illustration : At the breakfast table 
take a spoonful of sugar and just touch the tip of the 
spoon to the surface of the coffee in your cup and no- 
tice how the coffee creeps up into the sugar. It is in ex- 
actly the same way that the underground water creeps 
upward in the soil and becomes capillary water. Still 
another illustration : Fill a pan half full of water ; set 
it on a table and throw a rag over the edge so that 
one end will dip into the water and the other end will 
lie on the table. In a little while the water will be 
running from the pan out upon the table. In other 
words, it runs "up-hill," over the ^dgQ of the pan, 
through the cloth and "down-hill" through the cloth 
to the table. The water that runs uphill is capillary 



32 



water while that in the pan is free water. The 
cappillary water is being continually supplied from the 
free water in the pan below. Let us remember that 
it is the capillary water that the plant uses and which 
is also evaporating from the soil. 

We know that if we cover up a kettle it keeps the 
water from evaporating, "boiling away," as we say. 
In the same way a blanket, spread over the soil, will 
prevent the evaporation of this capillary water. The 
simplest way to get this blanket, spread over the soil, 
is to cultivate it. The layer of cultivated soil dries 
out very rapidly, but it prevents the air from getting at 
the moist soil underneath and thus keeps it from dry- 
ing out. It acts as a sort of dry blanket to prevent the 
evaporation of moisture. 

To conclude : There are three chief reasons for 
tilling the soil. I. To pulverize it, making it easy for 
the plants' roots to penetrate it in every direction and 
get at the store of food it contains. 2. To stir it and 
thus hasten the solution of plant food as well as to 
destroy w^eeds that rob the plants of their food. 3. To 
form a soil mulch, a sort of "dry blanket" as it were, 
which will prevent rapid evaporation of the capillary 
water from the soil. 

Problems. 

1. How many sq. ft. in one sq. yard? In one 
acre ? 

2. If soil is cultivated to the depth of 4 in. how 
many cubic feet of cultivated soil per acre? How 
many if cultivated to the depth of 6 in.? If culti- 
vated to the depth of 8 in. ? 

3. How much more plant food is made available 



06 

with cultivation to the depth of 8 in. than with a 4 in. 
deep cultivation? 

5. How many times as much available plant food 
in soil cultivated to the depth of 6 in. as in soil culti- 
vated only 4 in. deep? 

5. If a man and team can plow i^^ acres 6 in. 
deep or 2 acres 4 in. deep in a day, how much more 
does it cost per acre to plow land 6 in. deep than to 
plow it only 4 in. deep? Labor worth $2.40 per day. 

6. If a man and team can till 3 acres thoroughly 
in a day or 5 acres in a careless manner, how much 
more per acre does a good job cost if labor is w^orth 
$2.40 per day? 

7. How^ much more per acre does it cost both to 
plow and till well ? How many additional bushels of 
oats worth $.36 per bu. will it take to pay for the ad- 
ditional labor? 

8. How much will be the gain if but 40 bu. of 
oats can be raised with shallow plowing and careless 
seeding, and 57 bu. with the extra work? How^ much 
will these oats be w^orth at 24 cents per bu. ? At $.30 
per bu. ? At the present price of oats ? 

9. A certain piece of land yields 35 bu. of corn 
per acre By careful cultivation the farmer is able to 
increase this yield to 60 bu. With corn worth $.40 
per bu how many additional days' labor at $1 per day 
will the extra yield pay for ? 

10. If he spends but 20 days' extra time on his 
12 acre field of corn to produce the increase in crop 
shown in problem 9, how much does he get per day for 
his extra time? 

11. Suppose a farmer is able to double the aver- 
age yield of 160 bu. of potatoes from an acre of land 
by putting 15 days' extra time on it. What wages 



— 34 ~ 

does he get with potatoes at $.24 per bu. ? 

To THE Teachers From answers to the following 
questions furnished by the pupils, make other problems 
similar to the above. What does labor cost per dav? 
How^ many acres can a man plow per day? How many 
acres can he seed in a day? How many acres of corn 
can he cultivate ? Will extra labor increase the yield 
of corn? etc., etc. 

9. Draining the Soil. 

As was stated in the last chapter, the plant makes 
use of the capillary water in the soil and this capillary 
water is being continually supplied from the free 
water in the ground below. There is a level to this 
underground water just the same as there is a level 
to the water in a pond. On low, flat land this level 
is very near the surface. It is at or above the surface 
on swampy ground and many feet below^ the surface 
in high places. High ground needs little attention so 
far as drainage is concerned, as the water which falls 
upon it either soaks in or runs rapidly off as surface 
water. 

Low ground, however, does need attention. Plants 
cannot grow without air, and much water in the soil 
keeps out the air. The level of the underground water 
must therefore be below the depth to which the roots 
of the crop ordinarily penetrate the soil. In other 
words, a crop will not do well on a field where the 
ground water level is too near the surface. You have 
all. seen crops "drowned out," as the farmer says. If 
vou dig a post hole in this soil it w^ill soon fill with 
water to within a foot or so from the top. The level 
of the water in this hole will be the ground water level 



35 



and if it comes very near the surface no crop can be 
expected to do well on this soil. 

Again, wet soils are cold soils. It takes so much 
heat to dry up the water in them that there is little 
left to warm up the soil. Many times these soils are 
sour soils and will not become sweet until the water is 
drained off and the heat and air let in. Sometimes it 
is even necessary to sow lime on these soils in order to 
sweeten them after the water has been drained oft'. 

What is the farmer to do with low, wet ground ? 
Evidently there is but one thing to do — drain oft" the 
water. There are two ways of draining this water oft', 
the open ditch and the tile drain. To begin with, the 
land may be so low and flat that no kind of drainage 
is possible. This, of course, may be determined bv 
noting the level of the water in the nearest stream. If 
it is within a foot or two from the surface of the land 
and overflows with every heavy rain, easy drainage is 
impossible. But if the surface of the soil is a few feet 
above the level of the stream, the land can be easily 
drained. It is conceded that the tile system of drain- 
age is better than the open ditch, though it costs more 
to begin with and is harder to put in. The tiles should 
be placed about three feet below^ the surface, so that 
the ground water level will be lowered to this point 
and the ground cultivated without interfering with the 
tiles. The size of the tile to be used and the distance 
apart which they should be placed depend upon the 
slope and the character of the soil. An experienced 
drainage engineer should have charge of the work. 

Open ditches may prove quite as effectual in drain- 
ing the land if they be deep enough and not too far 
apart. (3f course, they must be kept cleaned out. The 
greatest objection to open ditches is that they cut up 



— 3G — 

the land too much and thus interfere witli cuUivation. 
They can best be used in draining out sloughs and nar- 
row, swampy places. Many acres of low land now 
uncultivated might be made very productive if prop- 
erly drained. 

Note : Farmers who are interested in this sub- 
ject should write to the U. S. Department of Agricul- 
ture for Farmer's Bulletin, No. 40, on Farm Drainage, 
which may be had for the asking. 

Table showing average cost of drainage tile in 
large cjuantities : 

3 in. tile cost about 3c each 
• 4 in. tile cost about 4c each 

5 in. tile cost about 5c each 

6 in. tile cost about 6c each 
All sizes are 12 inches in length. 

Problems. 

1. If a farmer owns a plat of low ground 80 rods 
long and 50 rods wide how niany acres in this plat ? 

2. A creek runs lengthwise through this land. The 
level of the water in the creek is 4 feet below the level 
of the land. Can it be drained ? 

3. Will the creek answer as a channel to carry off 
the water from the tiles ? 

4. Suppose he puts the tiles crosswise of the field, 
4 rods apart, so that they open into the creek. How 
many rods of tiling will it take? How many feet? 
How many 4 in. tiles? 

5. What will be the cost of these tiles according 
to the above table? 

6. What will it cost to dig the ditch and lay the 
tiles at 20 cents per rod? 



— 37 — 

7- What will be the entire cost if 4 in. tile are 
used? 3 in. ? 6 in. ? 

8. What will be the cost per acre for each kind 
of tile? 

9. Suppose the open ditches in which the tiles are 
laid will answer. How much more will the tile sys- 
tem cost than the open ditches? 

10. If the farmer is able to grow only lYi tons 
of marsh hay worth $4. per ton on this land before 
draining and can grow 60 bu. of corn worth $.35 per 
bu. after draining, what is the increase in the value of 
the crop due to drainage ? 

11. In how many years will this increase alone 
pay for the open ditch? For the 4 in. tile system? 
VoY the 6 in. tile system? 

12. Suppose the open ditch costs 5 cents per rod 
annually for repairs. In how many years will the 
open ditch cost as much as the tile drain ? 

13. If the above is a true example of the cost and 
value of drainage, does it pay ? 

14. What would it cost to dig an open ditch on 
each side of a slough 10 rods wide and 100 rods long 
at $.25 per rod ? 

15. Is there a place on your farm that needs 
draining? Measure it. Draw a plan for ditches and 
estimate the cost of both systems. 

To THE Teacher: Ask pupils to furnish data 
similar to that called for in the last problem for sim- 
ilar ones. 

10. The Crop. 

Everv farmer desires to be prosperous. He tries 
to raise that crop which will give him the largest re- 
turns in monev, but often in his anxiety to do this he 



— 38 - 

takes too little heed for the future. He reasons thus: 
"If tobacco is a high price and my soil will raise good 
tobacco, then tobacco is the crop for me to raise." So, 
year after year, he plants tobacco, until he finds that 
his soil will no longer raise a good crop of tobacco or 
anything else. Plainly, he has made a great mistake. 
\\'hat is the matter? 

The trouble is not hard to find. Tobacco is very 
hard on the soil as you will readily see by consulting 
the table showing the amount of fertilizing substances 
in farm crops. Besides, tobacco requires the same 
kind of food, year after year, and unless the farmer 
has made a careful study of this crop and the fertiliz- 
ers needed for its proper growth, his soil soon becomes 
exhausted of some of its fertilizing substances. The 
same is true of wheat, or corn, or any other crop, 
grown year after year on the same piece of ground. 
So the farmer needs to consider both the immediate 
returns, that is, the amount of money he will get from 
his crop this year, and the effect that the crop will 
have upon the soil. 

Good farmers have devised a plan, known as "crop 
rotation," whereby the farmer is able to secure the 
greatest possible returns from his farm with the least 
possible loss to the soil. This plan consists of grow- 
ing one kind of crop on a certain piece of ground this 
year, another kind of crop requiring different food 
materials next year, still another the year following, 
and so on. 

Now, what should form the basis of a good crop 
rotation? Let us see. Suppose tobacco is to be 
grown this year. It is a heavy feeder and therefore 
hard on the soil. A large amount of soil matter will 
be removed w^ith the crop. This should be restored. 



— 39 — 

Hut how? With barnyard manure. Instead of plant- 
ing tobacco next year on this piece of land better try 
some light feeder. If the soil is not too rich, oats will 
be a good crop to follow the tobacco. Clover can be 
sown with the oats and add more nitrogen to the soil. 
A crop of clover hay can be taken ofif the third year 
and the second crop plowed under. The soil is now in 
good shape again, and wheat or corn can be grown. 
Corn will afford an excellent opportunity for a thor- 
ough cultivation of the soil. A crop of peas mav fol- 
low the corn. As you will remember, peas belong to 
the legume family and restore nitrogen to the soil in 
the same way that clover does. If the peas are sold 
to the canning factory, the vines should be brought 
back onto the land and plowed under to enrich the soil. 
It is now in good shape for the second crop of tobacco. 
Now let us see what has been done : A five year's 
rotation has been planned, consisting of tobacco, oats, 
clover, corn, and peas, returning to tobacco again the 
sixth year. During that five years it has been neces- 
sary to manure this piece of land but once. During* 
two years legumes have been grown- and plowed under 
to enrich the soil. This manure and these legumes 
liave doubtless kept up the fertility of the soil. The 
farmer has had an opportunity for four years to ma- 
nure other pieces of land. At the same time he has 
been following some plan of rotation on the rest of his 
farm. Each year he has grown tobacco and realized 
a handsome profit from its sale, he has raised corn and 
sold his hogs, he has made hay for his cattle, and he 
has sold peas to the canning factory. He has been 
taking in money all the time, but he has not greatly 
exhausted his soil. 

There is still another feature of crop rotation worthy 



- -' — 40 — 

of note here. It is the different depths to which the 
roots of various crops penetrate. In the first place, 
tobacco is a long--rooted crop and feeds deep down in 
the soil. Oats, which follow, are shallow and feed near 
the surface. Then comes clover, whose roots penetrate 
for several feet, bringing food matter to the surface 
from deep down in the soil. When this crop is plowed 
under it furnishes a food supply for the corn which fol- 
lows it. Now, if oats had been grown on this soil year 
after year, their short roots would soon have exhausted 
the food supply near the surface. This difficulty has 
been avoided by the rotation of crops. Again, crop rota- 
tion aft'ords an opportunity for cultivation which de- 
stroys weeds and increases the power of the soil to pro- 
duce. 

The rotation given in this chapter is only a "sam- 
ple" rotation, not an "ideal" one, and is introduced 
here only from the purpose of illustration. The 
farmer should devise rotations of his own, suited to his 
own special needs and those of his farm. 

Problems. 

1. If corn is planted in rows four feet apart each 
way, how many hills to the acre? With three good 
ears to the hill, how many ears to the acre? 

2. If it takes lOO ears to make a bushel, how many 
l:)ushels to the acre? 

3. Which is the best crop? Five stalks to the hill 
that bear ears requiring 200 to make a bushel or 3 
stalks to the hill that bear ears requiring 100 to make 
a bushel ? 

4. How many bushels per acre is one crop better 
than the other? 



— 41 — 

5- Suppose a ten acre field produces 60 bushels 
of corn per acre the first year, but falls off 5 bushels 
per acre yearly when corn is continually grown on it. 
AMiat will be the yield the fourth year? 

6. What will be the total loss in the four years? 
With corn worth $.30 per bushel what is the money 
loss? 

7. Suppose this loss can be avoided by rotation 
of crops. AA'hat is saved yearly, per acre, on this 
basis from rotation of crops? 

8. \\diat is the value of one acre of tobacco, 1,500 
lbs.,. at $.08 per lb.? 

9. What is the value of one acre of oats, 60 bu., at 
$.30 per bu. ? 

10. ^^'hat is the value of one acre of clover, 3 tons, 
at $6 per ton ? 

11. What is the value of one acre of corn, 50 bu., 
at $.40 per bu. ? 

12. What is the value of one acre of peas, 20 bu., 
at $1.50 per bu.? 

13. You wall observe that the above problems are 
based on the crop rotation of the last chapter. What 
is the entire value of the five years' crop? 

14. What is the average yearly value of the crop? 
To THE Teacher: Ask pupils to furnish data f(^r 

similar problems. Number of acres of different crops 
raised on the farm at home, yield per acre, price ])er 
bushel, ton, etc. 

11. Insects and Diseases That Injure the Crops, 

The farmer may prepare the soil ever so well, he 
may fertilize with the greatest of care, he may culti- 
vate thoroughly, the weather conditions may be favora- 
ble and yet he may lose all or a portion of his crop 



42 



through the attacks of insects or the ravages of plant 
diseases. 

Every child has seen potato bugs at work and 
knows lull well the damage they will do in a short 
space of time. If they are not destroyed the crop of 
potatoes will be. However, the farmer has learned 
Jiow to tight this pest successfully. But there are 
many other insects that are injurious to the crop which 
the average farmer has not yet learned how to fight, 
and he has paid but little attention to plant diseases. 
It is not within the province of this book to deal with 
these subjects in detail, but there are a few general 
principles which may be laid down here and which 
will prove of value in the war that the farmer must 
continually wage against plant diseases and insect 
pests. 

It is necessary for us to know something of the life 
history of the insects which we fight — when they lay 
their eggs, where they lay them, when the eggs hatch, 
and the like. 

Insects are so called because they are "in sections." 
They have a head provided with a pair of feelers and 
a pair of strong jaws, a body to which are attached 
three pairs of legs, and usually two pairs of wings and 
an abdomen. The abdomen is the back portion of the 
body made up of several ring-like sections and capable 
of holding a large amount of food. They breathe 
through little holes in the sides of their bodies. There 
are ordinarily four stages of insect growth — the egg- 
stage, the "grub" or caterpillar stage, the resting stage 
and the full grown insect. The egg is laid by a full 
grown insect in the ground, on the leaves of plants 
and weeds, in rotten wood, on the bark of trees, or 
even in the blossoms of plants or the fruit of trees. 



43 



This egg- hatches into what we usually call a grub or 
worni. It is the grub that does most of the damao-e. 
The grub is a great eater and grows very rapidly as 
those of you who have watched the red potato bugs 
grow can testify. It then hides itself somewhere and 
goes into the resting state, from which it emerges a 
full grow'n insect, ready to lay eggs and repeat this 
cycle. Seme insects, as the potato bug, have legs in 
the "grub" stage, and others, like the grasshopper, do 
not CO into a restinsf state at all, but tjrow their wdnsfs 
as they hop about in search of food. 

For our convenience, we wdll divide insects into 
two classes — one class that eats the leaves and another 
class the members of which are too small to eat 
leaves, but large enough to suck the sap of plants. 

Now, what can the farmer do if his crop is at- 
tacked by insects? If he can find out wdiere these in- 
sects lay their eggs, he can destroy the eggs. If they 
lay them on weeds and rubbish, he can destroy them 
by keeping fence rows clean and fields free from weeds. 
If they lay them in the ground in the fall he can plow 
the ground and freeze them out. , If they are leaf- 
eating insects he can spray the crop vvith water con- 
taining paris green and poison their food. If they are 
sap-sucking insects, like plant lice, he can spray the 
trees or plants on which they live with a mixture of 
kerosene and soap suds, which will fill up the little 
breathing holes in the sides of their bodies and kill them. 
At the close of this chapter will be found formul?e for 
spraying mixtures for both these kinds of insects. Some 
farmers plant a "trap" crop, that is, a crop earlier 
than the regular one. upon wdiich the insect^ light to 
deposit their eggs. As soon as the eggs are laid the 
crop is destroyed, or else it is poisoned to destroy both 



— 44 — 

the old insects and the young ones when thev hatch. 

A word of caution in the use of poisons is neces- 
sary here. Cases are on record where people have 
been poisoned with paris green intended for insects. 
Of course, it should never be applied to cabbage or 
celery or any vegetable that is used for food. Cur- 
rants have sometimes been poisoned in an effort to 
kill the currant worm. In no case should deadly poi- 
son be used on fruit trees after the fruit has begun to 
form. 

It is often convenient for the farmer to fight other 
enemies of his crop, known as plant diseases, while 
carrying on his fight against insects, as one spraying 
may be made to do for both. 

Rust, blight, smut, rot, and the like are diseases 
which affiict the plant. They are caused by little, dust- 
like particles, called spores, that float around in the air 
and settle on healthy plants. Here they grow and mul- 
tiply in numbers very rapidly. They injure the plant 
by living upon its sap — in much the same way that lice 
and ticks suck the blood of cattle and sheep. They 
must be destroyed or they will destroy the plant on 
which they feed. 

As soon as the}' make their appearance in the field 
or orchard the farmer should begin his fight. If it is 
blight the aft'ected part should be immediately cut off 
and burned. If this is not done the wind will carry 
the spores to the other trees and soon the whole or- 
chard will be affected. The other trees should be 
sprayed with Bordeaux mixture to prevent the spread 
of the disease. 

For some years past oat smut has been destroying 
a large portion of the crop all over the United tSates, 
but this disease is now under control, as a wav to kill 



- 45 — 

the spores has been discovered. The treatment con- 
sists in soaking- the seed in a sokition of formaldehyde 
for a few minutes and then spreading it out on the 
floor to dry before sowing. The recipe is given at the 
close of this chapter. 

So it is with all plant diseases — destroy the spores 
and the disease is destroyed. The best medicine for 
this purpose is formaldehyde, a substance which can 
be obtained at any drug store. It will destrov the 
spores of more plant diseases than any other remedy 
yet discovered. It is usual to soak the seed in the so- 
lution before planting. 

Care must be taken in applying mixtures for b;)th 
insects and plant diseases not to get too much poison 
on the plants, as the crop itself may be injured there- 
by. Paris green may be sprinkled on potato vines 
with an old pepper box if care is taken not to use too 
much. It should be dusted over while walking rapidlv 
along the row. Two pounds of poison is ample for 
an acre of potatoes. 

When the crop is troubled by both insects an;l 
plant diseases, the remedies may be mixed and applied 
at a single spraying. A good spraying pump costs 
from $2 up. The average cost of the mixtures is 
given below. 

FOR PLANT DISEASES. 
(Bordeaux Mixture.) 

4 lbs. unslacked lime $.04 

6 lbs. copper sulphate at 5c 30 



Total $.34 

Dissolve each thoroughly in 25 gallons of water. 
When both are thoroughly dissolved, mix. Use only 
wooden vessels. 



— 46 — 

FOR LEAF-EATIXG IXSFXTS. 
3^ lb. Paris green to 50 g-allons water. Sprav. 
Cost 15c 

FOR SAP-SUCKING INSECTS. 

2 gallons kerosene $.25 

I lb. hard soap (i qt. soft soap) . . . .10 
One gallon water 

Total cost $.35 

The above are the best remedies in general use. 
The first two may be combined, or rather the poison 
may be added to the first mixture. 

FORMALDEHYDE SOLUTION. 

(For oat and wheat smut and potato scab.) 
I pint (40 per cent.) formaldehyde.. $.50 
2,6 gallons of water 

Total $.50 

Use wooden vessels. Put seed in "gunny sack." 
soak in this solution for ten minutes, and spread out 
to dry. The above solution is sufficient for 40 bushels 
of seed. 

Problems, 

1. Suppose it takes 200 gals. Bordeaux mixture 
to spray an acre of potatoes. What is the cost of the 
mixture ? 

2. Suppose it takes two applications to cure the 
blight and each application requires a day's time, 
worth $1. What is the cost of the cure? 

3. How many bushels of potatoes worth $.25 will 
it take to pay the cost of this cure? 



— 47 — 

4- Suppose two fields of potatoes of an acre each 
owned by different farmers. One farmer spra\'s to 
cure the bhght and gets i88 bushels of potatoes worth ' 
$.25 per bu. The other neglects his field and gets bnt 
75 bu. What is the difference in the value of the two 
crops ? 

6. What did it cost the first farmer to apply the 
spray ? What is his actual gain over the other farmer ? 
Did it pay to spray ? 

7. Suppose it takes two applications of two lbs. 
of paris green each, and two days' time at $1 per day 
to destroy the bugs on an acre of potatoes. How many 
bushels of potatoes, worth $.20 each, will it take to pay 
for the fight? 

8. Suppose the yield is increased from 50 bu. to 
200 bu. thereby. With potatoes at $.20 per bu. what 
does the farmer gain ? 

9. If both bugs and blight attack the crop, what 
is to be done ? Wliat will be the cost of both reme- 
dies ? What will be saved by mixing the cures ? 

10. How much does the formalin solution cost 
per bushel for seed oats ? 

11. If 3 bu. are sown to the acre what does this 
solution cost per acre? 

12. Suppose it takes a day's work worth $1 to 
treat the seed for 12 acres. What is the total cost of 
the treatment? 

13. How many bushels of oats worth $.30 each 
will it take to pay the cost of the treatment ? 

14. Suppose the treatment increases the yield 20 
bu. per acre. How much does the farmer gain on his 
crop? 

15. How much is gained per acre by the use of 
the treatment? 



— 48 — 

i6. What is the cost per acre of the treatment^ 
The cost of the treatment for a 40 acre field ? For a 24 
acre field? 

Query : Does it pay ? • 

To THE Teacher: Ask pupils to furnish data for 
similar problems. 

12, The Fight Against Weeds, 

The Bible condemns man to "eat bread in the sweat 
of his face." This is especially true of the farmer's 
life. His is a continual battle against the enemies of 
his crops. Fie must work hard, early and late, to 
combat the ravages of insect pests and plant diseases, 
but harder still to eradicate the weeds. 

Any plant where the farmer does not want it to be 
is a weed. Why are weeds objectionable? In the 
first place, they rob other plants of their food? Sup- 
pose you went out every morning to feed the chickens, 
and as soon as you threw down the grain for them a 
great flock of pigeons from a neighboring farm should 
swoop down and pick up half of it before the chickens 
could get it ! Would you not say to that neighbor : 
*Tf you don't take care of those pigeons, I will"? 

Weeds rob the other plants of their food just as 
truly and just as effectually as the pigeons rob the 
chickens in the illustration given above. If weeds are 
allowed to grow in a field, the crop is starved out. 
Thev rob the plants of moisture as well as food. In 
the second place, they serve as a breeding ground for 
insects as many insects seem to prefer to lay their 
eggs on weeds. In the third place, they shade small 
plants and rob them of much needed sunlight. These 
are the principal reasons why weeds should be de- 
stroved. 



49 



In order to fight weeds to the best advantage we 
must know something of their Hfe's history. They 
may be divided into three classes — annuals, biennials, 
and perennials. Annuals' are those that go to seed 
CA^ery year and then die, coming up from the seed each 
year. Pigweed, wild mustard, sweet slover and rag- 
weed belong to this class. It is only necessary to pre- 
vent them from going to seed to destroy them. This 
class of weeds is the easiest one to fight. 

Biennials are plants that live for two years. They 
grow up from the seed one year and grow a heavy root 
but do not go to seed that year. The next year thev 
come up from the root, go to seed, and then die. If 
we pull them up by the roots the first year, or keep 
them from going to seed the second year, we can easily 
destroy them. Cutting them ofif and not allowing them 
to go to seed for two years in succession will have the 
same efifect. Mullein, wild parsnip, burdock and bull 
thistle belong to this class. 

Perennials may go to seed every year, but their 
roots live on from year to year and the only way to 
eradicate them is to destroy them root and branch — 
not an easy thing to do. Perennials give most trouble 
to the farmer. To this class belongs the large num- 
ber of "noxious" weeds, Canada thistle, ox-eye daisy, 
couch grass, sorrel and common dock. As soon as 
any of the above make their appearance on the farm, 
the farmer should dig them up and burn them. If the}' 
are allowed to spread they will soon have possession 
of the farm. The writer has seen whole plantations, 
thousands of acres, in the South, surrendered to ox- 
eye daisies. When once weeds have driven the farmer 
cflf, the land is rendered valueless, as it is next to im- 



50 



possible to subdue them if they once have gained con- 
trol. 

Problems. 

1. If a clean field produces 60 bu. of corn per 
acre and a weedy one only 35 bu. per acre, what is the 
damage caused by weeds, with corn at $.35 per bu. ? 

2. What would be the damage to a 20 acre field 
at the same rate? 

3. How many days' labor at $1 per day will an 
amount of money equal to this damage pay for? 

4. Suppose it required only four days' work to 
keep an acre free from weeds. What would be the 

• gain per acre ? 

5. What would be the gain on a 24 acre field? 

6. Is the quality of the corn from a weedy field 
ever so good ? Why ? 

7. Suppose clean oats produce 65 bu. per acre and 
weedy oats produce only 48 bu. per acre. W^ith oats 
at $.30 per bu. what is the loss from weeds ? What is 
the loss on a 16 acre field? 

8. Are weedy oats as good in quality as clean 
oats ? Why ? 

9. (jive several reasons for weedy oats. Can weeds 
in oats be easily destroyed after the oats are sown ? 

10. Will crop rotation prevent weeds in oats? 
W^hat is a good crop for oats to follow ? Why ? 

11. A vield of 300 bu. of potatoes per acre would 
be an excellent crop. The land would need to be well 
cultivated and kept free from weeds to produce this. 
Suppose but 140 bu. are grown instead. What is the 
loss from lack of labor? At $.25 per bu. what is the 
monev value of this loss ? 



~ 51 — 

12. How many days' labor at $1.25 per dav will 
an amount of money equal to this loss pav for? ' 

13. Suppose only twelve days' extra labor were 
required to give the larger yield.' How much would 
be gained ? 

14. If the farmer did these extra 12 days' work 
himself, what would he get per day for his tinie ? 

,^ To THE Teacher: Ask pupils to furnish data 
from their ovvu experience and from home for similar 
problems. 

13. The StocK on the Farm. 

The successful farmer avoids "scrub" stock. He 
has learned two important facts: First, that it pavs 
to take good care of his stock, and next, that it costs 
no more in care and feed to raise a good animal than 
it does to raise a poor one. Now, let us analyze these 
two propositions and see how a thorough understand- 
ing of this truth affects the farmer's success. 

As will be more fully discussed in the next chapter, 
animals must be fed for several reasons. In the first 
place, they must grow and the food that they eat fur- 
nishes the material for this growth. In the second 
place, they must be kept warm and the fuel for this 
animal heat comes from their feed. Again, if some 
special product, like milk, is to be produced, this, too, 
must come from the feed. Now, why does it pay to 
take good care of stock? 

Care is here meant to include feed, shelter and gen- 
eral attention. If the animal is to grow rapidly it 
must be well fed, since the feed furnishes the material 
for this increase in weight. Not only this, but it must 
be fed regularly. If not its digestive organs become 



— o2 -- 

deranged ; that is, it gets dyspeptic, and its food passes 
off without being properly digested and is wasted. 

Stock should be provided with shelter at all sea- 
sons of the year, to protect them from the storms of 
summer and the blasts of winter. If their stables are 
cold, then the additional heat required to keep them 
warm must be furnished by additional feed. Animals, 
like people, are very sensitive to sudden changes of 
temperature, to sleet and snow, and cold and wind. 
They "catch cold," get sick and lose flesh in conse- 
quence. How necessary, then, for the farmer to pro- 
vide a shed for the cattle to run under during storms, 
a tight board fence on the north and west sides of the 
barnyard to break the wind, and warm stables for all 
his stock. 

General attention covers that watchful care so 
necessary to successful stock raising. Barns and barn- 
yards must be kept clean, stalls bedded, pure water pro- 
vided, stock kept free from ticks and lice, horses cur- 
ried, their feet attended to, the health of all animals 
carefully watched, diseased ones removed and shut up 
by themselves ; these, all these, and a thousand and one 
other little things constitute the general attention which 
the successful farmer gives to his stock. 

We can best prove that it pays by imagining the re- 
sult of a lack of such care. With neglect more feed is 
required to make the animals grow and more feed 
needed to keep them warm. Neglected animals grow 
slowly, are "stunted" in growth, finally stop growing 
altogether, and, sometimes sicken and die. Dirty ani- 
mals are unhealthy and get "scabby" and "lousy." Un- 
less carefully attended to, horses get the thrush or con- 
tracted feet, are "foundered" and ruined. Cows ex- 
])osed to wet and cold or chased by dogs, shrink in 



— 63 — 

milk. All these cause great loss to the farmer. Xo 
one can doubt that it pa\s to take good care of the 
stock. 

Xow for the other proposition: "It costs no more 
in feed and care to raise a good animal than it does to 
raise a poor one." A scrub cow -takes as much stable 
room, eats as much hay, requires as much pasture, 
takes as much time to milk, needs as much general at- 
tention and in the end returns about half as much 
product to the farmer. A "scrub" colt requires all 
that a blooded colt requires and is worth about half 
as much on the market. A "scrub" sheep is no better 
than a "scrub" cow. She produces about half as much 
wool and raises a "scrub" lamb that sells for about half 
what a good one brings. There is nothing bad enough 
to say of a "scrub" hog. It certainly requires as much 
care as a genuine "porker" and is a thousand times 
meaner. What does it bring on the market ! Not 
half what a well bred pig of the same age will bring ! 

If more facts are needed to convince you of the 
truth of the two propositions stated at the beginning 
of this chapter, they will be found in the list of prac- 
tical problems which follow. 

One thing must not be lost sight of, however. Hay 
and grain fed to stock is not entirely wasted. In a 
ton of hay, worth $6, there is at least $3 worth of ma- 
nure, if it is carefully saved and returned again to the 
land. But $3 in value has actually disappeared when 
the hay has been fed. Ten dollars' worth of oats, or 
corn, or barley, fed to stock will give in return $3.50 
worth of manure. Below is given a table showing the 
actual cash value of the manure produced by different 
farm animals, during the year, when they are kept in 
stalls and the manure carefullv saved. On the aver- 



-- 54 -^ 

a,^e farm at least two-thirds of this vaKie Is wasted. 
Pupils should use the second table for ordinary prob- 
lems. To the increase in the value of the aninial pro- 
duced by feedino- a certain amount of feed must be 
added the value of the manure produced bv the animal 
from the feed that is fed. 

Table showincr value of manure, per head, produced 
annually by farm animals : 

Horse $27.00 

Cow 19.00 

Hog- 12.00 

Sheep 2.00 

Table showin.q- value of manure, per animal saved 
annually from animals by the average farmer : 

Horse $10.00 

Cow 6.00 

Hoo; 4.00 

Slieep 75 

Problems. 

1. A cow requires about 4 ft. by 9 ft. floor space 
for a stall, with 4 ft. by 3 ft. additional for a manger. 
How much floor space will be required for 20 cows? 

2. Will it be best to stand the cattle in one long- 
row or in two rows of 10 each? 

3. If in two rows, would you have them face each 
other with the manger between or face the wall ? Why ? 

4. What will be the dimensions of a barn for 20 
cows in two rows of 10 each, using- the floor space 
given in the first problem ? 

5. Draw a plan of this barn with cows facing- each 
other. With the cows facing the wall. What are the 
advantages and disadvantages of each plan? 



bo — 



6. How many feet of two inch plank will it take 
to lay the floor in this barn ? Find cost of same at $25 
per thousand. 

7. What will be the cost of a cement floor for 
same at loc per sq. ft. ? 

8. Will "scrub" cattle require the same room? 

Note: Do not forget to add the value of the ma- 
nure to the value of the product in the following ex- 
amples : 

9. If a cow eats 3 tons of hay worth $6 per ton. 
1,000 lbs. of gro-xnd feed worth $.80 per cwt., and pas- 
ture amounting to $5 in a year, what does it cost a 
farmer to keep a cow? Will a "scrub" cow cost as 
much ? 

10. A "scrub" will give 15 lbs. of milk daily for 
300 days in the year, w^orth $.80 per cwt., and raise a 
calf worth $3. What is the farmer's profit on her? 

11. A Durham cow will give 25 lbs. of milk daily, 
for the same time and raise a calf worth $5. What is 
the farmer's profit on her ? 

12. How much more does he make on the Durham 
than on the "scrub" ? 

13. If it costs 2 tons of hay, 40 bu. of oats and $6 
worth of pasture annually to raise a colt, what does it 
cost to raise a horse 4 years old with hay at $5 per ton 
and oats at $.30 per bu. ? 

14. A "scrub" colt will bring about $80. Has the 
farmer lost or gained, and how much ? 

15. A coach horse will bring $150 instead. What 
has the farmer gained or lost on this colt? Which is 
the more profitable animal ? 

16. If it takes 3 tons of hay worth $6 per ton, 50 
bu. of oats worth ^,2^ per bu., and $10 worth of pas- 



— o6 - 

ture to keep lo sheep for a year, how much Is that per 
liead ? 

17. If "scruh" sheep each will shear about 4 lbs. 
of wool worth $.20 per lb. and raise a lamb that will 
weigh about 50 lbs. and bring about $3.50 ])er cwt.. 
what will the entire flock return to the farmer? What 
will each sheep return ? Will he gain or lose, and how 
much ? 

18. If of a good breed, each will shear about 8 lbs. 
of wool and raise a lamb weighing about 70 lbs., worth 
$5 per cwt. What will this flock return? What will 
each sheep return ? 

19. How much per head will be the farmer's gain 
on a well bred flock? 

20. If it takes 12 bu. of corn worth $.35 per bu. 
and $3 worth of other feed to raise a pig until it is six 
months old, what is the cost of the pig to the farmer? 

21. If a ''scrub" it will weigh about 125 lbs. at six 
months and bring $4 per cwt. Will the farmer gain 
or lose? 

22. If a Poland Chma it will weigh about 400 lbs. 
and be worth $4.75 per cwt. What is the pig worth? 
Will the farmer gain or lose and how much? 

23. How much more will the blooded pig bring on 
the market than the scrub? 

To THE Teacher : Ask pupils to furnish data on 
the weight of animals sold, the number pounds of milk, 
wool, etc., produced, the price of feed and products for 
similar problems. 

14. Feeding the Stock. 

We all know that farm animals should be fed, well 
fed, but we do not all know exactly zvhy they need 



— 57 — 

feeding. Some of the reasons were mentioned in the 
last chapter. Let us name them all now : 

1. To repair the wasit. 

2. To build up the boay. 

3. To keep the body warm. 

4. To furnish energ-y for the body. 

5. To make special products — milk, eggs, wool and 
the like. 

As the horse works and the sheep or cow walks about 
in search of food or even in the ordinary functions of 
life the animal body is continually wearing away. What 
child has not noticed the horses grow poor during 
"spring's work" or observed that he himself has lost 
weight after great exertion ! This loss in weight is the 
waste that must be repaired and for this repair food Is 
necessary. Farmers always feed their horses more 
when they work them hard for this very reason. 

Young animals must not only keep this waste re- 
paired, but they must also Increase In weight. For 
this reason they need more feed In proportion to their 
size. First, waste must be repaired before the animal 
can grow; then, whatever Is left .over, goes toward 
building up the body. 

Work horses must feel strong-; that Is, they must 
be full of energy. But what Is energy ? Simply this : 
power to do work. A healthy man has more energy 
than a healthy boy. He has stronger muscles. He 
has greater power to do work and can do more of It. 
So the horse, to do work, must have muscular energy. 
His muscles are formed from the feed that he eats. 

The milk cow must have more feed than the one 
that gives no milk. She must have food to build up 
her body, to repair the waste, to keep her warm, to fur- 
nish her with energv and, besides this, she must have 



58 — 



additional toocl out of which to make milk. Let her 
food supply decrease and she will at once show it in 
he amount of milk that she gives. You have all no- 
ticed this shrinkage when the pastures get "short" in 
summer So, too, the sheep must have extra feed out 
of which to make wool and the hen requires soecial 
teed trom which to make eggs. 

If a man were to start a "shoe factorv, he would buv 
leather pegs, nails and thread. These are the raw 
materials out of which he makes shoes. If he were to 
start a chair factory, he would buv lumber instead 
Iha IS his selection of material would depend upon 
the kind of product he expected to manufacture It 
IS just the same in the feeding of farm animals. If 
milK is to be produced, then feeds that make milk must 
be ted. if eggs are wanted, then hens must be fed 
egg-producmg foods. If work is to be done then feeds 
which supply energy must be fed. The horse is a 
machine to do work, the hen an egg-making machine 
the cow a milk factory. Different feeds are the raw 
materials ; eggs and milk, the manufactured products 
but, you say, "We know that lumber is needed to 
make chairs ; leather, nails and thread necessary to the 
manufacture of shoes; but we don't know what will 
make milk and eggs." Well, you have grasped at the 
question that underlies the whole system of feediup- 
and until the farmer determines for himself the bes^t 
and most economical feed to be fed in order to produce 
the desired results, farming will not pav him its largest 
returns. ' 

Feeds are conveniently divided into three classes- 
fats, protein, and carbohydrates. These are big words, 
but they are easily understood. Butter, lard? tallow,' 
and all kinds of oils come under the head of fats. The 



— 59 — 

white of egg is almost pure protein ; the sticky part of 
flour is protein ; the scum on the top of boiled milk is 
protein ; the principal part of cheese, the curd, is pro- 
tein ; lean meat is composed largely of protein ; glue is 
protein ; the hides, wool and feathers of animals are 
largely protein. You all know the odor of burned 
feathers ; any kind of a substance that scorches and 
gives off that odor contains protein. 

Starch, sugar and vegetable fibre are called carbo- 
hydrates. In a certain sense, fats, too, are carbohyd- 
rates, but they are usually put in a class by themselves. 
When carbodyhrates are spoken of in this book fats are 
meant to be included. 

Now, the great difference between protein foods 
and the carbohydrates is this : protein contains nitrogen 
and the carbohydrates do not. Nitrogen, as you will 
remember, is the substance taken from the air by the 
bacteria on the roots of the clover plant, and added to 
the soil. You will also remember it as one of the three 
plant foods that become exhausted from the soil. 

By consulting the table at the end of this chapter 
you will readily learn the amount of- protein and carbo- 
hydrates in the different feeding stuffs. A balanced 
ration is one in which there are about six times as 
much carbohydrates as protein. By a balanced ration, 
we mean the best ration to feed under ordinary condi- 
tions. For dry feeds, the combined w'eight of both the 
protein and the carbohydrates should be equal to at 
least one-half the total vvcight of the ration. 

Feeds rich in protein are bone and muscle-formers. 
Those rich in carbohydrates are fat formers. Carbo- 
hydrates keep the body warm. If muscle is to be built 
up. then muscle- forming feeds should be fed. Farmers 
have learned that corn is a good feed for horses only 



- 60 — 

in the winter time. The reason is plain. Corn is rich 
in carbohydrates. These supply heat and produce fat. 
Oats are rich in protein, a muscle builder, and furnish 
energy. In spring time it is muscle and energy that is 
wanted, not heat and fat. 

Sheep need feed rich in protein. Why? Wool is 
to be produced. W^ool is composed principally of pro- 
tein. Hens are expected to lay eggs. What should 
they be fed ? Corn produces fat. A strictly corn diet 
should therefore be avoided. Eggs are composed 
largely of protein. Feed protein foods. The shells 
are composed of mineral matter. Lime, broken or 
ground bone, ashes and gravel should always be where 
the hens can get at them. In general : Nature has 
provided, in summer, proper foods for most farm ani- 
mals and the nearer summer conditions can be dupli- 
cated the greater will be the farmers' success. 

Pigs fed exclusively on a corn diet sometimes have 
weak bones. Why ? Because there is not enough min- 
eral matter in corn out of which to make strong bones. 
Crowdng pigs should be fed protein feeds with plenty 
of mineral matter in them to form bone and muscle. 
Later, when fattening time comes, fat-producing feeds, 
like corn, should be fed. In most foods there is an 
abundance of carbohydrates. The chief difficulty will 
be to provide sufficient protein to bring the ratio up to 
six to one, that is, so that there will not be more than 
six times as much carbohydrates as there is protein in 
the ration. In other words, for every six pounds of 
carbohydrates there should be at least one pound of 
protein. For young and growing animals it should be 
considerably more than that. 

As has been stated, fat is usually put in a class by 
itself and not combined with the carbohvdrates as it is 



- 61 — 

in this book, 'i his is one reason : One pound of fat 
will produce about 2J/4 times as much heat and energ-y 
as one pound of carbohydrates, so that one pound of 
fat is equal to 2^ pounds of carbohydrates in feeding 
value. If we have i lb. of fat, 334 lbs. of carbohv- 
drates and i lb. of protein in a given ration, we have 
a ratio of 6 to i. In the following table the fat has 
already been added to the carbohydrates, so that, in 
order to find the value of a ration, it will only be neces- 
sary for you to use the following rule : Rule : Divide 
the total amount of carbohydrates in the ration bv the 
total amount of protein. 

If the result is greater than 6, more protein should 
be added. This ratio is generally considered the best 
for all animals except those that are fattening when a 
larger amount of cheaper carbohydrates can be fed 
wdth profit. Full grown animals can get along very 
well on a much smaller proportion of protein, while 
young, growing animals require a larger proportion 
than this because protein is a bone and muscle builder. 
The great problem of economical feeding is to find 
those feeds that will produce the desired results with 
the least possible expense. It is not necessarily the 
cheapest feeds that will do this. 

Table showing digestible nutrients in feeding 
stuif s : 

POUNDS PER TON. 
Kind of Feed. Protein. Carbohydrates. 

Clover hay 170 920 

Red top hav 95 980 

INIixed hay ' 88 880 

Timothy hay 56 920 

Corn fodder 50 710 

Oat straw 24 920 



— 62 — 

Rye straw t2 830 

Wheat straw 8 740 

POUNDS PER HUNDREDWEIGHT. 

Cotton seed meal 40 40 

Linseed meal 32 42 

Malt sprouts 18 46 

Wheat bran 12 46 

Wheat middlino;s 12 58 

POUNDS PER BUSHEL. 

Dry peas 10 32 

Rye 5 39 

Barley 4 ;^2 

Corn y/2 40 

Oats 3 19 

Table showing approximate amounts of protein 

and carbohydrates required daily by farm animals of 

average size : 

Animal. Protein. Carbohydrates. 

Dairy cow 2 lbs. 12 lbs. 

W^ork horse 2 lbs. 12 lbs. 

Calves under i yr. . . i lb. 6 11)s. 

Pigs, growing ^ lb. 2^/2 lbs. 

Lambs, growing ... 1-5 lb. i lb. 

Note : This amount varies with the size and age 

of the animal. Fattening stock can be profitably fed a 

greater allowance of carbohydrates. 

Problems, 

1. How many pounds of protein in a bushel of 
oats? With oats at $.30 per bu., what does this 
])rotein cost per lb. ? 

2. How many lbs. protein in bu. of barley? With 
barley at $.44 per bu., what does protein in this form 
cost per lb. ? 



— 63 — 

_ 3- Which is the cheaper feed to feed at these 
prices? How much? 

4. \\'hat is the cost per lb. of protein in rye at 
$.60 per bn ? 

5. What is the cost per lb. of protein in corn at 
$.35 per bu.? 

6. At the above prices which is the cheapest feed 
to feed? 

7. Which is probably the best feed to feed for fat- 
tening purposes ? Why ? 

8. Suppose all kinds of hay sell at the uniform 
price of $8.00 per ton. What is the price of protein 
per lb. in each of the four kinds of hay given above? 

9. Which is the cheaper feed ? 

10. What is the best kind of straw to feed and 
wdiy? How do we find the "nutritive ratio"? \Miat 
is the nutritive ratio of clover hay? Is it a balanced 
ration ? 

11. Find the nutritive ratio of all the feeds given 
in the tables. 

12. Which are nearest "perfect" feeds, i. e., wdiich 
have a ratio of about 6 to i ? 

13. Wliich are the poorest feeds, i. e., which have 
the lowest ratio of protein ? 

14. Which are the feeds having the largest pro- 
portion of protein ? 

15. Are any of the feeds given in the table so poor 
that, in themselves, they are practically worthless? If 
so, name them. 

Illustration. — One ton of mixed hay contLiiii^ S8 
lbs. protein and 880 lbs. carbohydrates. Its ration is 
10 to I. Let us mix it with some other feed to bring 
the ratio up to about 6 to i. We will try peas. We 



— 64 — 

will feed i bu. of g:ronnd peas with even- hundred 
lbs. hay. 

lOO lbs. hay contains 4-4 lbs protein, and 44 11)S. 
-carbo. 

60 lbs peas contains 10. lbs protein, and 32 lbs. 
carbo. 

Mixed, 160 lbs. of the ration contains 14.4 lbs protein, 
and 76 lbs. carbo. 

Dividing- carbohydrates by protein (76 by 14.4) 
we get a little more than 5 to i. We have more ]:)ro- 
tein than we need. Let ns try again, with j^2 bn. 
peas instead. 

100 lbs. hay contains 4.4 lbs. protein, and 44 lbs. 
carbohydrates. 

30 lbs. peas contains 5. lbs. protein, and 16 ll^s. 
carbohydrates. 

Mixed, 130 lbs. of the ration contains Q.4 lbs. 
protein, and 60 lbs. carbohydrates. 

Again dividing (60 by 9.4) we get 6.3, about right, 
and a much cheaper feed. Now, how much of this 
ration shall we feed to a dairy cow ? The table shows 
us that a cow needs about 2 lbs. protein daily, so this 
will be about enough for five days. One-fifth of each 
feed will give us as a result 20 lbs. of hay and 6 lbs. 
of peas for the daily ration. 

16. With the ration given in the illustration, how 
long will a ton of hay last a cow ? 

17. How many bushels of ground peas will be re- 
quired in the same time? 

18. What will it cost to feed the cow for this time 
with hav at $7.00 per ton and peas at $t.oo per bu. ? 

19. Suppose she gives 25 lbs. of milk daily on this 
ration. With milk at $1.20 per cwt., what is gained? 

20. ]Make a ration of clover hav and corn in the 



— 65 — 

same way and figure its cost. 

21. Make a ration of oat straw, clover hay, and 
ground peas. 

Experiment until you get about the right ratio, be- 
ing careful not to use more grain than is necessary. 

22. Figure its cost at these prices of feed. 

2^. How long will your ration feed a work horse? 
What is the cost of this feed for a horse for one day ? 

24. Make a ration of oats, hay and straw for work 
horses. Add a little cotton seed meal to supply pro- 
tein. A^dien you get the ration "balanced" figure its 
cost. You may have to try several times, but don't 
give up. Figure its daily cost per horse and compare 
with cost in last problem. 

To THE Teacher: Ask pupils to tell price of 
feeds, kinds grown on farm at home, stock to be fed, 
etc., for data for other feeding problems. 

15. The Three C*s. — Cows, Corn and Clover. 

All, who understand the conditions, are agreed that 
diversified farming will yield the largest returns with 
least waste to the fertility of the soil. But what is 
meant by diversified farming? 

When a farmer grows wheat to sell and little else, 
that may be called wheat farming. If he depends 
upon tobacco alone, we call that tobacco farming. If 
he plants his entire farm to corn and sells the corn or 
feeds it to hogs for the market, we may properly call 
that kind of farming, corn and hog farming. When- 
ever he engages in two or more kinds of farming his 
work becomes "diversified." He is then a ''diversi- 
fied farmer." The greater the number of different 
things he raises the greater the diversification. 

But, we have a2:reed that it is not a good thing to 



~ 66 — 

lowing- corn, offering an excellent opportunity for ro- 
raise grain or tobacco exclusively, for the market. 
We have learned that this kind of farming soon wears 
out the soil and does not pay in the long run. We 
have learned, too, that milk products contain little 
soil matter and are therefore easy on the soil. We 
have observed that the stock usually sold off the farm 
contain but small quantities of soil' matter in propor- 
tion to the feed that they consume. We, now, know^ 
that clover feeds upon the free nitrogen of the air and 
thus increases the store of nitrogen in the soil. We 
have learned that nitrogen is the principal ingredient 
in protein, the feed most sought after by the progres- 
sive farmer. From an examination of the table, we 
find that clover hay is richer in protein than any 
other kind of hay. A little calculation shows us that 
it contains about twice as much protein as redtop, 
three times as much as timothy, eight times as much as 
oat straw, fifteen times as much as rye straw and thirty 
times as much as wdieat straw. A larger amount of 
clover can be grown per acre on average land than 
of any other hay crop and since it adds nitrogen to the 
soil it is by far the best hay crop to raise. 

Another examination of the table reveals the fact 
that corn is one of the richest of grains and since corn 
fodder is the richest of fodders in feeding value and 
yields heavily, corn is an excellent crop to raise. 

Cows, corn and clover are a splendid combination 
for other reasons. Corn requires frequent cultivation 
and the soil is improved thereby. Weeds are exter- 
minated, the ground is plowed deeper and the manure 
is thoroughly mixed with the soil. Besides being an 
excellent feeding stuff and adding nitrogen to the 
soil, clover is a splendid crop to sow with oats, fol- 



— 67 — 

tation of crops, the advantages of wliich have alreadv 
been pointed out. 

Cows are a constant source of income to the farm- 
er and at the same time they supply him witli the 
cheapest and best of fertiHzers. You will remember 
that if the manure from a single cow were carefullv 
saved during the year and applied to the soil its value 
would be nearly $20, besides improving- the texture 
of the soil to a marked degree. 

With cows, corn and clover, sheep and hog raising 
are made possible and profitable. The cows and clover 
furnish milk and pasture for the growing animals^ 
while corn is one of the best of fattening feeds. To- 
bacco raising can also be engaged in if the farmer is 
careful not to exhaust the fertility of his soil by too 
frequent cropping with tobacco. Sugar beets, too, are 
a source of income to the farmer, and if the factory 
is so located that the pulp may be had for feeding- 
purposes or for manure, they also can be grown with 
little loss to the soil. Sugar is a carbohydrate and, 
like butter, it is formed from the food matter which 
the plants get from the air and the w^ater, but it must 
be remembered that beets are heavy feeders and if the 
return of the pulp is impossible, they, like tobacco, will 
soon wear out the soil. 

The reader must not make the mistake of thinking 
that the system of diversified farming outlined here is 
necessarily the best system. The greatest flexibility is 
allowable, depending upon the location of the farm, 
the character of the soil, nearness to factories and 
markets and various other conditions. But, it is easily 
seen, that in Wisconsin at least, cow^s, corn and clover 
should form the basis of any system of diversified 
farming. 



68 



Problems. 

1. A ration for cows consists of one ton of clover 
hay with lo bn. each of ground corn and oats. How 
long will this feed a cow^ feeding two lbs. of protein 
daily? 

2. What will be the total and daily cost of this 
ration with hay at $7.00, corn at $.40 and oats at $.30? 

3. What will it cost to keep a herd of 12 cows for 
200 days on this ration ? 

4. On another farm, timothy hay, oat straw, bran 
and oats are mixed in the following proportions : One 
ton each of hay and straw, 20 bu. of oats and 1,000 
lbs. of bran. Is this a balanced ration? 

5. How long will this ration keep a cow^? A herd 
of 15 cow^s? 

6. With hay worth $7.00, oats $.30. straw $4.00, 
and bran $.80 per cwt., what is the total cost of this 
ration ? The cost per cow per day ? 

7. What will be the cost of feeding a herd of 12 
cows for 200 days on this ration ? 

8. Compare the rations in problems i and 4. 
Which costs the more? Wdiich is the nearest to bal- 
anced ration ? Wliich is likely to produce the better 
results in feeding? 

9. Suppose 20 lbs. of each ration to be the daily 
allowance for each cow. How long would each ration 
last a cow? What would be the daily cost? 

10. Which is the cheapest ration under these con- 
ditions? 

11. It must be remembered that in order to get 
the best results a cow should be fed about 2 lbs. of 
protein daily. How much does she get with each 
ration ? 



~ 69 — 

12. Disregarding- the value of tlie carbohydrates, 
what is the cost of tlie protein in each ration? 

13. A lack of protein means a smaller quantity of 
milk. Suppose cows fed on 20 lbs. of the clover-corn- 
oats ration gave 20 lbs. of milk daily, while those fed 
on the hay-straw-oats-bran ration gave but 15 lbs. of 
milk daily. With milk at $.80 per cwt., what is the 
gain on each kind of feed? 

15. It must also be remembered that the right 
kind of feed produces the richest milk. Suppose the 
milk from the cows fed on the first ration is worth 
$.85 per cwt., wdiile that from the cows fed on the 
second ration is w^orth but $.65 per cwt. Find the 
value of the milk produced monthly (30 days) by a 
herd of 10 cow^s. 

16. Find the cost of the feed for the same herd 
for the same time. 

17. Now determine if the cheapest ration is the 
most economical. 

18. Which is the best ration to feed under the 
above conditions? 

19. Make rations for all kinds of feeds and figure 
the cost of the protein therein. 

20. When you have finished, compare results and 
note that cows, corn and clover seem to go well to- 
gether and give the best results. 

To THE Teachers Ask pupils to furnish data 
from home — number of cows milked, amount of milk 
produced, amount and cost of feed fed, price of milk, 
etc. — for similar problems. 

16. Home and School Gardening. 

Home and School Gardening has been encouraged 
to a considerable extent in the country during the past 



— 70 -■>- 

two years through circulars furnishing inforniation 
and the free distribution of flower and vegetable seeds. 
The results observed warrant continuance of attention 
to the work of gardening. While all schools have not 
given particular attention to gardens on school grounds 
there has been a deeper interest shown in home gar- 
dening in almost every district in the county. Condi- 
tions have been such in many districts that it was wise 
for the teachers and pupils not to undertake the run- 
ning of a garden on school grounds. However, there 
certainly has been no good reason for not encouraging 
home gardening through the schools. The coming 
school-year we wish every teacher to undertake the 
work early and encourage it during the entire year. 

Every family in this country should be interested 
in a garden because of the comfort and satisfaction 
afforded by having one in or about the home. If the 
home lot is too small for a garden you might use the 
porches and windows. In most cases we find rich, 
fertile land, hardly being used at all, about the homes 
of citizens of this great agricultural county. It is a 
fact that cannot be successfully contradicted, that no 
land of equal size pays one-twentieth part as well 
financially, as that land allotted to gardening. It is 
not so much the money value afforded to a family by 
a garden as it is the pleasure and joy a well kept 
flower or vegetable garden offers. Our mad rush for 
money often blinds our eyes to the beautiful plants, 
flowers, shrubs and trees about our homes. We need 
to cultivate a love for our environment. 

Interest in gardening furnishes one of the best ways 
of stimulating a love for the good, the beautiful and 
the inspiring things of life. It is difficult to live in 
harmony with nature's laws without having an ap- 



— 71 — 

preciation of the good — the pleasing things— which 
the plant and animal world provide for us. 'The man 
who does not love flowers, trees, birds, the running 
])rook, the quiet glen, and beautiful fields of corn and 
grain, is to be pitied. One of the purposes of the 
work in gardening is to cultivate a love for nature 
and nature's teachings. 

The treatment of the subject ''gardening" in one 
chapter must of necessity be very general. Gardening 
includes a large part of agriculture, horticulture and 
floriculture. We must deal primarily with flower and 
vegetable gardening. We have been gardening too 
extensively, generally speaking, in this country, and 
not intensively enough to make the work of garden- 
ing as scientific and enjoyable, and as profitable as it 
might be. On account of this extensiveness we have 
made the work of gardening rather burdensome to 
all. It is advisable to have just a reasonable size plot 
for a lawn, or for a flower garden, or for a vegetable 
garden. The flower garden should be placed on onf 
side of the house — never right in front of the house 
A flower bed right in the middle pf a lawn has a bad 
effect on the general appearance of the lawn. It is a 
good plan to have the flower beds and shrubbery sep- 
arate the lawn from the vegetable garden. As a rule 
Vv-e have been trying to overdo the matter of having 
flowers, shrubs and trees on our lawn. The massive 
appearance of things spoil the general beauty of all. 
It takes time and study to plan a flower garden well ; 
it requires time and study to arrange trees and shrub- 
bery to look well about a home;. it requires attention 
and careful thought to arrange a vegetable garden 
properly. 

A beautiful lawn and good gardens add so much to 



— i'Z 



a home that if once undertaken they will be pro])crlv 
appreciated and never neglected. First, a garden or a 
beautiful lawn pays because it is restful to those about 
the home; second, a well kept lawn or garden pays 
because it is beautiful and pleases those who see it : 
third, a good garden or a nicely kept lawn pays be- 
cause the value of the home or place is increased. The 
seasons and conditions vary so nnich in different years 
and different places that no hard and fast advice can 
be given for performing the work connected v/ith 
gardening, yet a few brief hints or suggestions may 
prove of service to those interested. 

1. During the winter season it is advisable to 
make a careful study of plans for gardening ; test and 
study seed ; give attention to bulbs and shrubs ; con- 
sider vines, shade trees, rose bushes and all such 
things as are grown with success and satisfaction in 
this latitude. 

2. A study of the soil should be made before be- 
ginning the garden v/ork in the spring. There are 
certain plants well adapted to sandy soil, others grow- 
better on clay or loamy soil. Determine what fer- 
tilizing should be done beforehand, so that when time 
for working in the garden begins, you will be able to 
go about it intelligently and scientifically. In the pre- 
paration of the soil the following points are to be 
taken into consideration: 

a. Do not stir the garden soil deeper than the 
top layer. 

b. If the garden is sodded, spade or plow, and 
turn under so that the grass and roots are well 
buried. In case it is difficult to cover the grass and 
roots well, shake all the dirt from the roots and 
pile the grass outside the garden. 



-^ 73 — 

c. Harrow or rake until the soil is fine, remov- 
ing sticks, stones, etc. 

d. The depth to which seed should be planted 
is determined by the kind of plants to be raised and 
the nature of the soil. Light sandy soil, which is 
apt to dry out rapidly, requires the seeds to be 
planted deeper than clay soil. Or soil that is shel- 
tered from the w4nd need not have seeds planted so 
deeply in it, because wind dries out soil very rapidly. 

3. Suggestions on the size, shape and position of 
beds : 

a. If the beds intended for flowers or vege- 
tables can be worked from both sides, make them 
about four feet wide ; if they cannot be worked 
from both sides endeavor not to have them more 
than three feet wide. Two and one-half feet may 
be used effectively. 

b. As a rule it is advisable to make the beds 
against some background, i. e., a fence, wall, shrub- 
bery, etc. — not out in the middle of a plot. They 
may be so arranged that certain kinds of plants 
can be used as screens for objects it may be desired 
to hide. 

c. Beds for vegetables should be planted in 
rows far enough apart to admit of passing between 
them in order to hoe the ground. 

4. Suggestions on sowing and planting: 

a. The seeds furnished by the government and 
those purchased from the best seed firms are put 
up in convenient packages and have printed on 
them directions as to the time and method of plant- 
ing. Common sense and good judgment must be 
exercised by us in the planting and sowing of seeds, 
and, of course, we must be governed by the char- 



— 74 — 

acter of the season and soil. Onions, potatoes and 
sweet peas may be planted as soon as the ground 
can be worked. 

b. Flower seeds should, as a rule, be sown or 
planted crosswise in the beds. 

c. Cover all small seeds, such as phlox, lettuce, 
radish, etc., very lightly with fine earth, and pack- 
by tapping the ground with the back of a hoe. 

d. Seeds the size of parsnips, beets, carrots, etc., 
should be covered to 'the depth of an inch, and in 
rows two feet apart. 

e. Plant sweet peas two or three inches deep. 
They should be planted in two rows close together 
— rows running north and south — six inches apart, 
and allowed to climb a wire netting or trellis placed 
between them. Nasturtiums may be planted two 
inches apart. 

f. Plant bush beans three inches deep two feet 
apart. Plant sweet corn in hills three inches deep, 
three feet apart. 

g. In transplanting cabbages, tomatoes, pansies, 
etc., make a hole deep enough to take the plant to 
its first leaves. If hot and dry, shield plant for a 
time with an old shingle. Be sure and water plants 
often. Transplant on a cloudy day or towards even- 
ing. 

5. Cultivation of plants : 

a. Use every precaution to preserve the mois- 
ture of the soil. Stir the surface lightly but often. 
Keep weeds and grass removed. Properly thin out 
plants. See that plants have plenty of water. Light 
sprinkling is almost as bad as no watering at all. 

b. See to it that the plants have a sufficient 
amount of sunshine. Choose exposed or shaded 



— 75 — 

locations according to the habits of the plants. In 
every case the plants should be far enough apart to 
allow them to make full growth. Corn should be 
planted three kernels to the hill. Water melons, 
scjuashes and cucumbers should be planted in raised 
hills, eight or ten seeds in a hill. Such plants are 
likely to be troubled with insects. After they have 
made a good growth thin out plants to four or five 
well separated plants in a hill. 

c. Keep a sliarp lookout for insects. Better ex- 
amine leaves frequently for insects' eggs. The old 
remedy of Paris Green mixed in water is about as 
good as any. Its application needs no explanation. 
Birds are usually as helpful as anything in the pro- 
tection of our plants, therefore encourage them to 
live about your home. Someone has said, "Birds 
are worth more than insect powder and cheaper." 

Landscape Gardening. 

A fev\' words on landscape gardening may aid in 
improving and beautifying home and school grounds. 
Plants and shrubs are beautiful if well grown. Flor- 
ists' catalogs give valuable suggestions and directions 
for the cultivation of vines, plants and shrubs. We 
note, that in all landscape gardening, two principles 
must be observed. First, in order to produce the de- 
sired effect, care must be taken in locating plants, trees 
and shrubbery so as to hide objectionable features of 
the home or school grounds from the view of the 
l)asserby. Second, plants, trees and shrubs must be so 
arranged as to bring out in bold relief those features 
of the grounds and buildings that are in themselves 
attractive. 



— 76 — 

In order to observe the two principles we need to 
make a study of the grounds, the hardiness of the 
plants, trees and shrubs, their adaptability for growth 
under stated conditions, their shape, color of foliage 
and of blossom, etc. There are probably not more 
than a score of shrubs desirable for planting under 
conditions such as we find in Wisconsin. The follow- 
ing list of trees and shrubs have been planted upon 
^he school grounds at Jefferson and are doing very 
.veil; 

1. Arbor Vitae. 

2. Colorado Blue Spruce. 

3. Douglas Spruce. 

4. Hemlock. 

5. Norway Spruce. 

6. Scotch Pine. 

7. Cut-leaf Birch. 

8. Tartanan Maple. 

9. Common Barberry. 

10. Purple Barberry. 

11. Thumberg's Barberry. 

12. Common Dogwood. 

13. Golden Elder. 

14. Papan Lilac. 

15. Persian Lilac. 

16. Syringia or Mock Or- 

ange. 

17. Rosa Rugosa. 

18. Russian Olive. 

19. Tartarian Honey- 

suckle. 

20. Spirea Van Houtei. 

21. Red Dogwood. 

22. Snow Ball. 



/ / 



23- \'iri^iiiia Creeper 
(vine). 
All the above plants, shrubs and trees have been 
carefully tested at the Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion at Madison and found to be adaptable to the con- 
ditions in Wisconsin. The plants, shrubs and trees in 
the above list may be obtained from or through the 
Experiment Station. 

List of Plants That May Prove Suggestive. 

1. \^EGETABLES. — Potatocs, ouions. sweet corn, 
pop corn, cabbages, tomatoes, bush beans, lettuce, cu- 
cumbers, radishes, turnips, parsnips, beets, parsley, etc. 
etc. 

2. Foliage Plants. — Castor bean, canna (roots), 
calladium (bulbs), sunflower. 

3. Vines. — Scarlet runner, morning glory, wild 
cucumber, moonvine, Madeira vine, Japanese hop vine, 
gourds of all kinds, ivy, sweet peas, cinnamon vine 
(bulb). 

4. Flowers for Bedding.^ — Alyssum, asters, 
bachelors' buttons, calendula, calliaopsis, candytuft, 
coreopis, cosmos, four o'clock, gladiolus, hollyhock, 
marigold, mignonette, nasturtiums, petunia, phlox, 
poppy, salvia, verbena and zinnia. 

The above list is far from complete but it gives 
an idea of the plants commonly grown in Wisconsin. 
It is better to take a few and make a "hobby," so to 
speak, of those few. You are more liable to have 
better success than if you undertake the study and 
raising of many. Try and cultivate a love for gar- 
dening. Goethe writes the following lines, showing 
his love and appreciation for a garden : 

Lore, 



— 78 — 

"Spacious and fair is the world ; yet oh ! how I thank 
the kind heavens 

That I a garden possess, small though it be, yet mine 
own, 

One which enticeth me homeward ; why should a gar- 
dener wander? 

Honor and pleasure he finds, when to his garden he 
looks." 

17. Why We Need a.n Agricultural School, 

AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 

Almost every foreign land has agricultural schools. 
European countries and Canada are leading this coun- 
try in agricultural education, France has over loo,- 
ooo school gardens. Germany, Denmark, Sweden, 
and Finland have Agricultural schools for every 25,- 
000 rural inhabitants. Canada, under the leadership 
of Commissioner Robertson, is placing an Agricultural 
training within the reach of every farmer's child. 

Agricultural schools consider along with English 
literature and mathematics, work on soils, plant life, 
.animal life, carpentry and other manual training, eco- 
nomics and domestic science. All work is related to 
farm life. 

FARMERS IN NEED OF JUST AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER 
TRAINING THAN OTHER CLASSES. 

The farmer who is to be successful in the future 
must not only be intelligent in his farm work, but he 
must be a business man as well. Means of transporta- 
tion makes it possible for farm products grown at a 
great distance to be laid down in home markets. Yes, 
a farmer in order to be financially successful needs 
more of an education than any other class of men, 



— 79 — 

except it be the professional. A man working in one 
of our factories does about the same thing, hour after 
liour, day after day, yes, year in and year out, while 
a man on the farm in the course of a day or a week 
may have a thousand things to think about and do. 

DOES EDUCATION PAY? 

Not long ago very interesting statistics were com- 
piled showing that a people's productive power com- 
pares with the amount of time and money expended in 
popular education. The States of Massachusetts and 
Tennessee were compared. Massachusetts spends 
about $12,000,000 and Tennessee about $2,000,000 for 
educational purposes each year. Massachusetts pro- 
duces about $1,300 per family of five each year, Ten- 
nessee produces but little over $500 per family. These 
comparisons are carried out much farther to show 
that it pays to expend money for education. The use 
of faculties trained to the widest range of enjoyment 
is what makes for fullness of life. Education gives 
ability to think, to know, to do and to manage life and 
things. The right kind of training always pays. No 
one will claim that we are giving the young people in 
this county a fair chance to gain the ability to manage 
things on the farm. We have an opportunity to do so, 
if we but accept the tender made by the state to in- 
stitute a school that will furnish the training. 

IS THERE A DEMAND FOR AN AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL? 

It has been only forty years since Congress passed 
an act to provide for the establishment of the first 
school where instruction could be given in Agricultural 
and in the Mechanic arts in each of the states of the 



80 - 



bnioii. To-day every state and territory have splen- 
did schools of Agriculture. Some of the states have 
large central schools only, while others have provided 
a central and branch schools. Our state has a lar^e 
central school at Madison which furnishes an induce- 
ment to young men between i8 and 25 years of age. 
The school is so popular that it is necessary to turn 
students away every year, the supplv being far greater 
than the school can handle. The County Agricul- 
ture school furnishes inducements to the" boys and 
girls from 14 years up ; it cultivates a love for farm 
hfe. It is a school that is to the farmers what the 
high schools in cities are to the citizens in the cities. 
No one who has studied the results of the Agricultural 
school at Madison will dare to contradict the statement 
that the school has paid for its expenditure a thousand 
times to the farmers of the state. The County school 
is in no way a competitor to the institution at Madison. 
1 he County school takes the boys and girls fresh from 
the country schools and affords them at public expense 
the corresponding educational advantages afforded to 
the city children in the high school. We believe in 
equal educational advantages at public expense to all. 
\\' hy should the boy on the farm be denied four or five 
years educational privileges that are granted the boy 
m the city? It is unfair; it is unjust and should be 
remedied. The school we propose to institute will 
extend to the farmers' children similar advantages now 
offered through the high school to the children re- 
siding in villages and cities. High schools are putting 
in the practical courses, business courses, stenographic 
courses and manual training. It behooves the farmers 
to recognize the need of a course of study that will 
cultivate a love for agricultural pursuits. 



;i — 



now ABOUT THE CITIZENS OF CITIES AND VILLAGES BE- 
ING BENEFITED BY THE COUNTY SCHOOL? 

The question is a proper one ! It may be answered 
in a general statement : whatever benefits the commun- 
ity or country around or about a city or village bene- 
fits the city or village. This statement needs no dis- 
cussion. Some of the farmers and many of the farm- 
ers' wives of the future are coming from the cities 
and villages. However, the domestic science depart- 
ment appeals equally to girls, young ladies and women 
in cities, villages and rural communities. It does seem 
strange, but this is true, the heartiest support for the 
movement now is coming from cities and villages. 
Farmers are honest and mighty conservative ; they 
are slow to take up with modern conveniences, but 
when they do, nothing is left undone to make them 
efifective and of value. To-day there are thousands of 
farmers in this county enthusiastic over the institution 
of the school. A farmer ought to be the last one to 
raise an objection to the establishment of a County 
Agricultural school. 

We. believe that whatever will improve farming 
surrounding a city or village will correspondingly in- 
fluence for good the city or village; while on the other 
hand it is possible to build up cities and not have a 
corresponding efifect on the country adjoining the 
cities. Take for example the deserted farms in Mas- 
sachusetts, near the large manufacturing cities, or the 
undeveloped ranches about the mining cities in Color- 
ado. Love for farm life and for household duties 
should be nourished, but can only be through know- 
ledge of its importance, its pleasures, its blessings and 
its profits taught in schools instituted for the purpose. 



AUG 18 1905, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





D00E773Efl3S 



